18 November 2003 Afternoon Edition

Kosovo News

· U.N. police arrest three in anti-organized crime operation in (AP)
· Kosovo fate "not linked to status of Serbia-Montenegro" (Beta)
· U.S. applies "old and new tactics" in Kosmet (Tanjug)
· EU says standards before status policy to be checked in mid-2005 (Tanjug)
· Ivanov says NATO responsible for 1999 Kosovo war (Tanjug)
· Robertson joins "standards before status" chorus (B92)

Regional News
· Anti-Milosevic forces must consolidate or his allies could return (AP)
· Former Yugoslav president says Milosevic held absolute power in Serbia (AFP)
· Solana "confident" in Serbian leadership (Beta)
· Norwegian police open probe into Serb suspected of war crimes (AFP)
· Unlike Solana, Patten did not hide disappointment (Tanjug)
· International spin for Serbia's image (Beta)
· Former Croatian Serb leader indicted (Beta)
· OSCE urges Albania concentrate on European integration efforts (AP)
· Macedonia to retire seven top generals as part of defence reform (dpa)
· BIH to withdraw suit filed against Serbia and Montenegro? (Tanjug)
· Slovenia on schedule to meet NATO requirements (AP)

U.N. police arrest three in anti-organized crime operation in
BC-EU-GEN--Kosovo-Arrests U.N. police arrest three in anti-organized crime operation in Kosovo
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) _ U.N. police have arrested three people and raided five premises of a company believed to be involved in organized crime, including auto theft, a spokesman for the force said Tuesday.
In a pre-dawn raid Monday, U.N. police searched five business premises in three Kosovo towns of the company ItalBetton Balkans, which is ``believed ... involved in the organized theft of heavy construction equipment from around Europe,'' said Derek Chappell, a spokesman for the U.N. police.
``This machinery is then given falsified documents and ownership and used on its building projects,'' he said.
During the raids in Kosovo, a Briton, an Albanian and an Italian are being held on charges ''commercial auto theft and false documentation,'' according to Chappell.
By commercial theft police in Kosovo mean stealing vehicles on a large scale for the purpose of selling them for profit.
Also seized were 100 vehicles, seven of which have been identified as stolen so far, Chappell said.
According to Chappell, ItalBetton Balkans is a subsidiary of ItalBetton, whose owners are ``under indictment in Italy for serious criminal offenses.''
``The owner of this company has recently been arrested in Turkey and was extradited to Italy,'' he said. He did not disclose the name of the owner nor the precise charges against the company in Italy.
``We are working closely with Italian authorities on this investigation into what we believe was an active criminal enterprise,'' Chappell said.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since June 1999 after NATO bombing halted a Serb crackdown on independence-minded ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Kosovo fate "not linked to status of Serbia-Montenegro" | 11:32 | Beta

BRUSSELS -- Tuesday - Responsibility for the final status of Kosovo lies with the UN and cannot in any way be linked to the future of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said last night.

Speaking after a meeting of the European Union's Council of Ministers, Solana brushed aside suggestions that the possible end of the state union in 2005 would hinder the planned launch of negotiations on Kosovo's status.

He told journalists that the EU merely supported the resolutions and policies of the UN Security Council..

WASHINGTON-KOSOVO-US
U.S. applies "old and new tactics" in Kosmet
10:12 WASHINGTON , Nov 18 (Tanjug) - In coordination with the international Contact group, the United States of America wants to help set up a framework for Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet), based on which it would be possible to move ahead, applying "the old and new tactics," said U.S. Secretary of State Deputy Catherine Stevens.
The old tactics refers to the strengthening of the essential idea - standards before status, said Stevens in her statement to the Voice of America, clarifying that before a status of anything is discussed, the entity has to function.
EU-SERBIA-MONTENEGRO-KOSOVO
EU says standards before status policy to be checked in mid-2005
18:34 BRUSSELS , Nov 17 (Tanjug) - The European Union Ministerial Council said in Brussels on Monday that the first examination of the achievements of the standards before status policy in Kosovo-Metohija might be carried out in mid-2005, or maybe even earlier if there was enough progress in the achievement of these principles.
This is one of the conclusions which the EU member-countries' foreign ministers adopted in Brussels in their stands on the West Balkans, including Serbia-Montenegro and Kosovo-Metohija.
(end)

RUSSIA-KOSOVO-IVANOV
Ivanov says NATO responsible for 1999 Kosovo war
16:19 MOSCOW , Nov 17 (Tanjug) - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Monday the NATO leadership of that time was primarily responsible for the war in Kosovo province in 1999, and that the then Yugoslav leadership did not do everything in its power, either.
Speaking at the presentation of a book by Viktor Chernomyrdin on the events in Kosovo, Ivanov categorically denied claims that Russia had "tricked" Belgrade, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass said.
(end)

Robertson joins "standards before status" chorus | 11:15 | B92

PRISTINA -- Monday - NATO Secretary-General George Robertson ended a visit to Pristina last night by telling journalists that he fully supports the policy of establishing standards in the province before discussing its final status.

The "standards before status" catchcry, first voiced by the province's former governor, Michael Steiner, has been taken up as justification for delaying a resolution of Kosovo's final status.

Robertson came to the top NATO job after a stint as Britain's Defence Secretary, during which he was one of the main hawks behind NATO's three months of bombing attacks on Yugoslavia in 1999.

He said today that "standards before status" was the safest road to the future for Kosovo, adding that he hoped Kosovars would meet those standards by 2005.

The outgoing NATO boss urged Kosovo officials to resume dialogue with Belgrade.

He also took advantage of the strong showing by the nationalist Serbian Radical Party in Sunday's failed attempt to elect a Serbian president, to offer Serbs a little political advice.

"If Serbs want to integrate into Europe they should forget about the extremists and not support them," said Robertson.

Anti-Milosevic forces must consolidate or his allies could return
BC-EU-POL--Serbia-Elections, 1st Ld-Writethru,0669
Anti-Milosevic forces must consolidate or his allies could return to power, official warns
Eds: SUBS grafs 6-7 to UPDATE with final results
By DUSAN STOJANOVIC=
Associated Press Writer=
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) _ Pro-democracy forces must bridge differences or face defeat at the polls next month by strident nationalists close to former President Slobodan Milosevic, a senior liberal politician warned Tuesday.
Dragoljub Micunovic, a former dissident who lost Sunday's failed elections for the president of Serbia to a Milosevic ally, said the republic's governing bloc faces a crucial test in the Dec. 28 parliamentary vote.
If the forces which toppled Milosevic in 2000 don't regroup for the Dec. 28 vote _ and if their supporters don't come out and vote in large numbers _ ``we could face all sorts of surprises,'' including the return of Milosevic's allies to power, Micunovic told B-92 radio.
``We had defeated Milosevic only while we were united,'' Micunovic said. ``When we started breaking up into different groups, it turned out that the ultranationalists are stronger than us.''
Sunday's presidential vote was declared invalid because of low voter turnout _ the third failed attempt to elect a president in just over a year.
Voter turnout was 38.7 percent, below the 50-percent minimum required by law, the state electoral commission said in its final report Tuesday.
In a major blow to the pro-Western authorities, ultranationalist Tomislav Nikolic led with 46.2 percent of the vote, about 10 percentage points more than Micunovic, the pre-election favorite, the commission said.
``The result was logical because the Radical Party supporters were disciplined and came out to vote, while the supporters of the shattered democratic bloc stayed home,'' Micunovic said.
Micunovic said voters stayed home because they were disillusioned by a failure of the post-Milosevic government to eliminate widespread economic and social decay.
``The results show that in rural Serbia, where people are poor and unemployed, Nikolic has won,'' Micunovic said. ``In Belgrade, where the economic situation is a bit better, I got most of the votes.''
Since taking over in Serbia after toppling Milosevic in October 2000, the unity of the 18-party Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition has steadily unraveled in a series of major disputes. Only 12 of the parties from the original bloc ended up supporting Micunovic in the presidential vote.
Micunovic said that the remaining DOS members will hold their final meeting in Belgrade Tuesday evening before they start forming new coalitions for the December vote.
Any comeback of the pro-Milosevic forces would present a major setback for the United States and the European Union. Serbia's reformist authorities have become a key Western ally in efforts to stabilize the Balkans after a decade of wars fomented by Milosevic.
Milosevic, Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj and several other former Serbian officials are in The Hague, Netherlands, facing U.N. war crimes charges related to the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo fomented by them.
Nikolic, a propagator of ``Greater Serbia'' goals of forceful change of borders in the Balkans, has pledged to have no more extraditions of Serbs to the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

Former Yugoslav president says Milosevic held absolute power in Serbia
Source: Agence France-Presse English Wire Date: November 18, 2003
THE HAGUE, Nov 18 (AFP) - Borislav Jovic, the last president of federal Yugoslavia before its break-up, told the UN war crimes court here Tuesday that Slobodan Milosevic had "absolute authority" in Serbia during the 1990s.
Jovic testified in the trial of his former political ally Milosevic, in progress before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) since February 2002.
"He held absolute authority over the people and in the (Serbian Socialist) party," Jovic said of Milosevic.
Jovic was president of Yugoslavia from mid-1990 until May 1991, when armed skirmishes in Croatia began to strain the fabric of the Yugoslav federation. He went on to become the president of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).
After Slovenia and Croatia declared independence in the summer of 1991, the federation fell apart. The ensuing wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo cost over 250,000 lives.
Prosecutors called on Jovic to testify about hundreds of meetings he had with the then Serbian president between 1989 and July 1992. They are hoping he will shed light on the role Milosevic played in the wars that tore apart the Balkans.
Milosevic has been on trial for almost two years on over 60 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. For the 1992-95 war in Bosnia that claimed well over 200,000 lives, Milosevic faces a separate charge of genocide.
Jovic would not say if Milosevic controlled or had links to paramilitary Serb units fighting in Bosnia and Croatia during the wars there, as the prosecution has been trying to prove.
Prosecutors argue the former Serb strongman bears responsibility for the atrocities committed in the former Yugoslav republics because he controlled and funded local Serb troops and paramilitaries that fought in Bosnia and Croatia.

Solana "confident" in Serbian leadership | 11:39 | Beta
BRUSSELS -- Tuesday - Serbia's early parliamentary elections next month will produce a majority dedicated to following the path to Europe, Javier Solana said last night.

The EU foreign policy chief told media in Brussels that he had full confidence in Serbia's political leaders.

Asked if he was concerned at the growing political instability in Serbia, Solana said that he expected Serbia's leaders to deal with the situation.

He warned that the December elections would be much more important than Sunday's failed presidential vote, adding that he believed there would not be a significant change in political values.

Solana also said that the EU was taking a very constructive approach to the feasibility study currently being prepared on Serbia-Montenegro's bid for membership.

Norwegian police open probe into Serb suspected of war crimes
Source: Agence France-Presse English Wire Date: November 18, 2003
OSLO, Nov 18 (AFP) - Norwegian police have opened an inquiry into a Serb refugee living in Norway Croatia wants extradited after convicting him of war crimes, the justice ministry said Tuesday.
"Police are conducting an investigation to verify the grounds for this extradition request," spokesman Gunnar Johansen told AFP.
The 57-year-old Serb, whose identity has not been disclosed and who has been living as a refugee in Norway since 1998, claims himself to have been sentenced in Croatia to 20 years in prison for war crimes.
Upon his arrival in Norway, he informed authorities of his conviction, which was announced in his absence in December 1996, but the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration was unable to confirm the ruling and granted him a work and residency permit.
"He told us he had been convicted but we couldn't find any trace of this conviction," said directorate spokesman Geir Loendal, who tried in vain to contact the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Neither was the man on a Norwegian justice ministry list of wanted war criminals, Loendal said.
According to Norwegian public radio NRK, witnesses from the Croatian village of Vukovar accused the Serb of slitting the throat of a prisoner of war, threatening an injured person with a knife and selecting people to be executed from a group of civilians.
The Serb, who is married to a Croatian, has denied the claims.
According to his lawyer Anne Marstrander, he fears that he will be tortured and executed if he is extradited to Croatia.
Norway and Croatia have no extradition agreement.

EU-SERBIA-ELECTIONS
Unlike Solana, Patten did not hide disappointment
12:51 BRUSSELS , Nov 18 (Tanjug) - EU's top foreign policy official Javier Solana was not too concerned by the unsuccess of the presidential elections in Serbia, although he conveyed to the Serbian authorities that the problem should be resolved as soon as possible.
Solana, who was speaking at a news conference in Brussels just before midnight, at the end of the first day of a two-day meeting of the EU Ministerial Council, said that for the Union were nevertheless more important legislative elections in Serbia, scheduled for December 28.

International spin for Serbia's image | 12:07 | Beta
BELGRADE -- Tuesday - The Serbian Government is to engage public relations firms in Brussels and Washington to polish up the image presented by the country to the European Union and the United States.

Assistant International Economic Relations Minister Ana Trbovic said today that a Brussels spin factory has already been selected.

The company had been chosen for its work with EU directorates and the governments of other companies, she said.

Trbovic told media that the PR company would be engaged to set up a Serbian media office in Brussels.

The agency will then oversee relations with media in EU countries, release "positive but objective" information and news on Serbia, cover visits by Serbia officials and liaise with EU officials.

This, said Trbovic, would expedite Serbia's process of stabilisation and association with the EU.

Former Croatian Serb leader indicted | 11:25 | Beta
THE HAGUE -- Tuesday - The Hague Tribunal announced today that it has indicted former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic.

Babic, who led the short-lived Serb republic within Croatia during the war of the 1990s, is charged with five counts of crimes against humanity and violations of the law and customs of war.

He is accused of being responsible for the murder of hundreds of Croats and other non-Serbs in a number of villages in Krajina.

Babic was a prosecution witness in the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

OSCE urges Albania concentrate on European integration efforts
BC-EU-GEN--Albania-OSCE
OSCE urges Albania concentrate on European integration efforts
AP Photo
TIRANA, Albania (AP) _ Europe's top security organization urged
Albania on Tuesday to settle its political squabbles and concentrate on becoming part of the European Union.
The Balkan country's political leaders must act to resolve a political crisis that began when authorities declined to release the results of local elections in October, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a report set to be delivered this week.
``It's normal to have a government crisis, but this crisis has lasted too long,'' said Osmo Lipponen, the head of the OSCE mission in Albania.
Albania's Oct. 12 vote was considered an important test of its efforts to embrace democracy.
But irregularities and obstructive tactics from the two main political forces _ the governing Socialist Party and the opposition Democratic Party _ have delayed the final results. Normally, results are released three days after the vote.
NATO and the European Union, which Albania hopes to join one day, have urged the government and political parties to try harder to prevent the manipulation of returns. Both organizations have pressed politicians to accept any electoral defeat gracefully and move on.

Macedonia to retire seven top generals as part of defence reform
Skopje (dpa) - The Macedonian Defence Ministry plans to retire seven of the country's top 11 generals as part of a wide-ranging programme to bring its armed forces into line with NATO standards, Skopje media reported Tuesday.
The ministry asked President Boris Trajkovski to retire seven members of the General Staff, including the country's top general, the daily Utrinski Vesnik reported.
As part of the reform plan the Macedonian army would be considerably reduced in size to just 13,000 soldiers.
Macedonia is struggling to maintain stability after the ethnic Albanian insurgency which brought the country to the brink of civil war in 2001. dpa ra pmc
AP-NY-11-18-03 0809EST

BIH-SUIT-WITHDRAWAL
BIH to withdraw suit filed against Serbia and Montenegro?
13:34 BANJALUKA , Nov 18 (Tanjug) - Bosnia and Herzegovina will very soon withdraw its suit agianst Serbia and Montenegero for aggression and genocide before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, said on Tuesday the Sarajevo Novo Oslobodjenje, citing an unnanmed senior Bosniac official.
The source explained to the weekly that the reaching of an agreement on the matter was the only reason for SCG President Svetozar Marovic's visit these days to Sarajevo.
(end)
Slovenia on schedule to meet NATO requirements
BC-EU-GEN--Slovenia-NATO
Slovenia on schedule to meet NATO requirements
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) _ Military reforms aimed at
transforming Slovenia's army into a small, professional and mobile force is running without a hitch, NATO's top military commander said Tuesday.
``I'm very impressed by the energy and determination by which this reform progress has been prepared and has been executed,'' said Gen. Harald Kujat, the head of NATO's highest military authority, the Military Committee.
Kujat said he and his host, Maj. Gen. Ladislav Lipic, the Slovenian army Chief of Staff, had discussed Slovenia's preparations for joining NATO during his one-day visit to the tiny alpine nation.
``I'm happy to say that the process is going very smoothly,'' Kujat said.
Slovenia is scheduled to join NATO in April. To meet alliance standards, the country has scaled down its military force, abolishing the old conscript system for a smaller, professional army.
Slovenia aims to have a force of about 9,000 professional soldiers, consisting of specialized battalions for mountain combat, peacekeeping and intervention abroad.
Slovenia currently has about 180 soldiers serving in NATO peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo.