22 October 2003 Morning Edition

Kosovo News

· Serbia-Montenegro force not able to return to Kosovo: KFOR (Xinhua)
· Serb backs fund for Kosovo Albanian war crimes suspect (B92)
· Serbian deputy premier meets with representatives of Kosovo Serbs (Tanjug)

Regional News

· Autopsy report says Djindjic shot from his right (B92)
· AP Interview: Serbian PM confident his government will continue reforms (AP)
· Nine charged with terrorism in Macedonia (AFP)

Other News

· Kofi Annan invites U.S. to participate on global panel (AP)
· Iran yields to UN on nuclear checks (NYT)

Serbia-Montenegro force not able to return to Kosovo: KFOR

BELGRADE, Oct 21, 2003 (Xinhua) -- The NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) said Tuesday that Serbia-Montenegro force couldn' t return to the UN-administrated province.

Commenting on statements by sources close to the Serbia- Montenegro Supreme Defence Council that Serbian army may return to Kosovo, Chris Thompson, spokesman of KFOR said at a news conference in Pristina that KFOR is in charge of security in the province and the UN Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) and Kosovo police force are in charge of public order and peace. Force of Serbia and Montenegro hasn't opportunity to return to the province, the Tanjug news agency quoted him as saying.

Kosovo, a province of Serbia and Montenegro, has been under UN administration since June 1999 following 11 weeks of NATO bombing. The Yugoslav (now Serbia-Montenegro) forced was forced to withdraw from the province. Multinational peacekeeping force stationed in the province.

Serb backs fund for Kosovo Albanian war crimes suspect (B92)

LIPLJAN -- Tuesday - A local Serb MP in Kosovo voted today in favour of establishing a fund in support of an ethnic Albanian accused of war crimes in the province, in a bizarre attempt to undermine the proposal.

Borivoje Vignjevic, a member of the Democratic Party of Serbia and deputy mayor of the Lipljan municipality in Kosovo, cast the deciding vote in favour of the Fatmir Limaj Fund, named after a Kosovo Albanian defendant at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague.

The motion adopted stated that 10,000 euros should be set aside in next year's municipal budget in order to finance the fund.

But in voting in favour, Vignjevic claimed today that he had in fact blocked the motion. Sure enough, the local United Nations administrator announced that the motion had been annulled and would be referred to the international authorities since it violated decrees regulating the municipal budget.

"With 15 votes the decision would have been returned to the Finance Committee and the Albanians would have got their money. With my vote I prevented that", Vignjevic told B92. He denied doing it out of "malice".

The Serb National Council of Kosovo and the local branch of the Christian Democratic Party of Serbia have condemned the move.

Serbian deputy premier meets with representatives of Kosovo Serbs

BELGRADE , Oct 21 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Premier and head of the Kosovo-Metohija coordination centre Nebojsa Covic on Tuesday met with representatives of Kosovo-Metohija provisional institutions, local self-administration in Kosovo and Return coalition and members and managers of certain coordination centre sectors.
The talks focused on security, return of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija, health and security, privatisation and other issues.

Autopsy report says Djindjic shot from his right (B92)

BELGRADE -- Tuesday - Zoran Djindjic was killed by a bullet to the right side of his chest, B92 reports tonight, citing the autopsy report carried out after the murder of the prime minister on March 12.

The autopsy report states that the bullet exited below the left rib cage, and could be responsible for a graze found on Djindjic's the left arm. However, it does not rule out the possibility of a second bullet.

Unofficial information suggests another report into the murder is to be conducted after differences emerged between the report produced by experts in Belgrade and the findings of a German crime institute concerning the way Djindjic fell and the position of his body.

The Crime-fighting Institute in Wiesbaden, which offers assistance to foreign governments and police forces, could not confirm the information. A representative told B92 that only the Serbian government could make the findings public.

Djindjic's bodyguard told B92 yesterday that the prime minister was facing the government building when he was shot in his right side. Milan Veruovic said this meant it was impossible he could have been hit by a sniper positioned in Admiral Geprat Street, as the government claims. The bodyguard has insisted he heard three gunshots, rather than two as claimed by investigators.

AP Interview: Serbian PM confident his government will continue reforms

By KARL PETER KIRK

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) _ Serbia's pro-Western prime minister said Tuesday he was confident his government will survive an approaching vote of confidence and will continue to push reforms.
Zoran Zivkovic, on a one-day official visit to Budapest, played down the threat of being voted out of office, saying that his main concern was to see reform legislation voted through parliament.
``Our aim is not to gain a large enough majority to stay in power, but enough votes to pass the laws on reforms and for us to take the process of reform further,'' Zivkovic told The Associated Press. ``I feel the opposition does not have the strength to topple the government and that we have enough votes to keep this government in power.''
Zivkovic said he expected the vote to take place sometime in the next few weeks. The government needs an absolute majority _ at least 126 votes in the 250-seat parliament _ to stay in power, whereas normal legislation can be passed with a simple majority of the deputies present.
Rightist and nationalist opponents of the government have called for the vote because they allege government ministers are corrupt and unable to govern effectively.
The crisis has amounted to the biggest challenge for Serbia's pro-Western authorities since the assassination of the former prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, in March, apparently by underground figures opposed to his crackdown on crime.

Nine charged with terrorism in Macedonia

BELGRADE, Oct 21 (AFP) - Nine people have been charged in absentia with terrorism and threatening state security in Macedonia after allegedly placing a mine on a railway between Skopje and Belgrade, officials said Tuesday.

Macedonian interior ministry spokeswoman Mirjana Kontevska said the suspects may also have planted a bomb in the main square of Kumanovo, northern Macedonia, in June.

She said all suspects were at large, and several of their alleged accomplices were also being sought.

"These people are suspected of links to attempted murders, kidnapping, robberies, armed rebellion and terrorism," Kontevska said.

Kofi Annan invites U.S. to participate on global panel

By JUDY LIN

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday invited the United States to participate on a soon-to-be-formed global panel for re-evaluating the U.N.'s role in maintaining international peace and security.

Prompted by fear that nations will start using military force whenever it suits them, Annan reminded the United States, as well as all other U.N. members, that the most effective way to fight terrorism is for nations to find common ground.

The United Nations needs to review its own rules if it wants to keep everyone involved, he said in a speech to more than 2,000 people in Pittsburgh.

``I believe we can find collective answers, even if it requires a hard look at international rules, starting from first principles _ and that is the exercise that I have urged all members of the United Nations to embark on,'' Annan said.

The speech at the University of Pittsburgh came on the heels of a resolution aimed at attracting more troops and money to stabilize Iraq while making clear that the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq is temporary.

Last week, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling on all 191 U.N. member states to contribute to Iraq's reconstruction, which the United States hopes will help raise $55 billion to rebuild the country. The resolution set a Dec. 15 timetable for drafting a new constitution and holding elections.

The White House didn't immediately return a call for comment on the speech.
Annan said a global power like the United States cannot shoulder the rebuilding of Iraq just as no one nation can tackle the problems of global warming, human rights violations and terrorism.

``Iraq provides us with an immediate, graphic illustration of a challenge where the United States wields immense power, but where the difference between success and disaster may nevertheless hang on the degree of global cooperation,'' the secretary-general said.

Annan said he was troubled by the United State's decision to invade Iraq after the Security Council refused to formally authorize the war.

``Many people find it troubling and confusing when the United States appears to abandon the very international instruments that bear its mark and are so closely identified with ideals and objectives inspired by this country,'' Annan said.

America must work with the international community to lend legitimacy to its cause, otherwise unilateral moves could unravel the system of collective security President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped achieve when he led the formation of the United Nations more than half a century ago, Annan said.

While there have been ``shameful failures'' in the field of peacekeeping, especially Bosnia and Rwanda, Annan said the successes of the United Nations have outweighed the losses.

He said the United States and the United Nations have a record of cooperation and depend on one another for keeping peace missions in war-torn countries such as El Salvador, Sierra Leone and Kosovo.

Annan said he will have to be ``very careful about risking the lives of United Nations workers,'' particularly following two attacks to the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, one of which killed special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Still, the United Nations is prepared to help the Iraqi people, Annan said.
``All of us share a common objective _ namely to restore to the people of Iraq, as quickly as possible, full charge of their own affairs under an internationally recognized, representative government,'' the secretary-general said.

Iran yields to UN on nuclear checks

Nazila Fathi/NYT NYT

It agrees to unscheduled inspections

TEHRAN Iran agreed Tuesday to allow full inspections of its nuclear sites and to suspend its uranium-enrichment programs.

In a joint statement after meeting with three European officials, Iran declared that it would sign a measure allowing unexpected and intrusive inspections of its nuclear sites. It also said it would fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN body.

The decision came after Iranian officials met here with three foreign ministers: Jack Straw of Britain, Dominique de Villepin of France and Joschka Fischer of Germany.

Villepin praised the agreement as a solution to the differences between Europe and Iran on its nuclear program, but Straw was more cautious, saying the implementation of the pact was more important than the encouraging language in the communiqué.

[The White House cautiously welcomed Iran's announcement, The Associated Press reported.

["What's important about today's announcement is the commitment by Iran," the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said in Singapore, where he was traveling with President George W. Bush. "What's most important is that Iran fully comply and now implement what they've committed to." ]

Iran has been under increasing international pressure, including from the United States, to allow such inspections, under a protocol of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rowhani, said at a joint news conference after the nearly four-hour meeting with the ministers that Iran had decided to settle the remaining issues with the UN nuclear agency.

Rowhani said Iran had decided to sign and carry out the protocol so that Iran could continue its legitimate nuclear activities.

"Another agreement is that Iran would voluntarily suspend its uranium-enrichment program for a while to show its good will and build confidence with the European and other countries," Rowhani said. "This is a voluntary decision and we are doing it to create a new atmosphere of trust and to develop relations with Europe and industrialized countries."

The three ministers welcomed the decision. "This is a very important day," Villepin said. "We were facing a major issue. Proliferation is a major challenge to the world, and today we found a solution to the pending issue."

Straw, however, was more cautious, telling the BBC, "The proof is not in words of the communiqué but about the implementation and compliance with the agency." The statement said Britain, France and Germany believed that the agreement would open the way to longer-term cooperation and that it provided "satisfactory assurance" about Iran's nuclear power program.

"Once international concerns, including those of the three governments, are fully resolved, Iran could expect easier access to modern technology and supplies in a range of areas," the statement said.

The UN nuclear agency had given Iran until the end of October to sign the additional protocol and suspend its uranium-enrichment program. Iran could have faced sanctions by the Security Council if it refused to comply.

Rowhani said Tuesday that Iran started carrying out the protocol a few months ago, when it extended cooperation to the agency's inspectors.

After the protocol is signed, it needs to be ratified by Parliament and must be approved by a hard-line watchdog body, whose members have opposed the protocol in the past. But opposition to the agreement is is not expected.