UNMIK Press Briefing Transcript – 9 June 2000

UNMIK Spokeswoman - Susan Manuel
KFOR Spokesman – Major Scott Slaten
OSCE Spokesman - Roland Bless
EU Spokeswoman - Irene Mingasson

Today, the Principal Deputy Special Representative Jock Covey will congratulate the Kosovo Albanian representatives on the IAC. Today Mr. Hashim Thaci and Mr. Ibrahim Rugova and Mr. Rexhep Qosja all issued very strong and timely statements on the recent violence in Kosovo. These statements have been sent to SRSG Kouchner in New York, who will undoubtedly welcome them with great enthusiasm and it is expected that he will deliver the statements to the Security Council today.

Also to be presented to the Security Council today is Secretary-General Kofi Annan's latest report on Kosovo, with his own warning on the unacceptable level of violence in Kosovo, which, he says "has undermined Kosovo Serb confidence in the future" and which appears to be "part of an orchestrated campaign” That report is available in our office. It is a very comprehensive document and for any of you working on anniversary reports it has a great deal of information on the state of the mission today.

All three leaders acknowledged that interethnic violence has increased recently in Kosovo, that the Serb community has been targeted. While some of the three leaders' statements were published in today's local newspapers, let me repeat them in part:

Mr. Qosja said: "Interethnic chaos is the only chance remaining for the Belgrade regime."

He also said that with the entire world watching Kosovo, the Kosovo Albanains are facing an historical test. "Our policy, culture and historical maturity are being tested, If we as the great majority in Kosovo don't accept the political and moral responsibility for the other smaller ethnic communities, we will fail the test of democracy and humanism and we will make an historic mistake with grave consequences."

Mr. Thaci called on all citizens of Kosovo to "refrain from and denounce all violent acts, and to involve themselves in the growth of security for all citizens of Kosovo."

Mr. Thaci's party, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, condemned the recent violence and "seeks that this phenomenon disappear."

He said that the PDK would support all efforts and the international community for the creation of a Kosovo that is “safe for all its citizens."

For his part, Mr. Rugova called on every citizen to "vigorously engage in building up tolerance by assisting Kosovo police and judicial authorities to investigate these acts of violence and bring the perpetrators to justice."

Mr. Rugova also said that an attack against any KFOR member is unacceptable and the Democratic League of Kosovo 'condemns those acts in the strongest possible terms.”

He also warned "continued acts of violence, especially on the first anniversary of freedom, may take away the moral and material support which Kosovo has in the international community."

These statements follow an extremely positive visit by the three KA leaders to the Roma communities of Prizren and Ferizaj earlier this week. The leaders gave strong messages of solidarity and of tolerance to the Roma community who greeted them with cheers.

In other business, the IAC is discussing draft regulations on the privileges and immunities of liaison offices, on amending the excise tax regulation and on regulation of the print media. They will also talk about the electoral system and election modalities for the upcoming municipal elections.

As many of you reported, a bomb was discovered underneath a civilian car yesterday morning at 8:10 a.m. in Pristina, whose target appeared to have been the UNMIK Police or UNMIK police building as the car was parked in front of Pristina station number one which is next to UNMIK police HQ. The package was discovered by an UNMIK police officer and contained an explosive device and was detonated by KFOR. The bomb consisted of 500 grams of military explosives. The car owner had parked the car there that morning, which indicates that whoever placed the bomb there intended it to go off during the daytime, inflicting maximum harm to people nearby. Police say that all in a 10-15 meter range could have been killed or seriously injured. So, you will see more security measures enacted for international personnel. KFOR EOD and UNMIK police are investigating the case.
 
In Mitrovica yesterday, the hunger strike of 16 Serb and Roma detainees resumed. They are demanding that Dr. Kouchner, “fulfill his promises” regarding the start of trials in Mitrovica. Those trials did start during the week but the first trial reason was postponed until nest week for technical reasons.

There is a media event Tuesday sponsored by the International Organization for Migration to Prizren to visit income generating projects and training of the Kosovo Protection Corps. The meeting point for media is the KPC headquarters in Pristina at 7 a.m. Departure is at 7.15 a.m. For more information please call Mr. Shemsi Syla, KPC Information office at tel. 543 555.

Another press event will be held on Tuesday in the Lipjan municipal court. The United States government will begin to deliver a quick start package for all the courts of Kosovo. This is equipment worth five million DM and includes vehicles, office equipment and computers.

Let me remind you again of events marking the one year anniversary of UNMIK and KFOR's arrival in Kosovo: On Sunday evening, a reception for the press at 6 p.m. here. On Monday, at 11 a.m. there will be a major press briefing by the SRSG, COMKFOR and the pillar heads.

On Sunday evening, we'll be showing parts of an UNMIK TV piece produced by Victoria Schultz, which has just won a CNN World Report award for best coverage of an ongoing issue. The story was produced and broadcast last summer on CNN.

Finally, there is a press release outside from Medecins du Monde Greece, concerning the incident involving the clinic in Gracanica two days ago. Dr. Dabbour, the director of the clinic, is also outside and available for comment. Also available for comment is MNB Spokesman Major Plant. This is involving the suspect involved in a threat to General Sherif was moved from Gracanica clinic to a KFOR hospital.

KFOR Spokesman - Major Scott Slaten

KFOR MNB(W) soldiers, assisted by KFOR Italian Carabinieri, military police and UNMIK police are continuing to aggressively hunt for and catch criminals operating in Kosovo. As a member of the Italian Brigade, the Carabinieri entered Kosovo with the first elements of the KFOR contingent. The following month, the advance party of the lead Multinational Specialised Unit (MSU) arrived in theatre to evaluate the situation. In August the unit was fully operational and has helped UNMIK and KFOR track down criminals. One year later the job is not complete, every day the soldiers and police units of the KFOR Italian Brigade work closely with UNMIK police to hunt suspects in crimes and search for illegal weapons of war that are being used in Kosovo to threaten and attack innocent citizens. Since arriving in Kosovo last year, the MSU and the military police units have built up an impressive list of accomplishments. During this period they have successfully arrested over 650 suspects in major crimes, confiscated over 700 weapons, 450 explosive devices, 6000 rounds of ammunition, 17 rocket launchers and several mortars. KFOR soldiers and leaders in each multinational Brigade continue to dedicate themselves to improving the security situation in Kosovo for all residents, regardless of ethnicity or status.

On Wednesday night KFOR Portuguese soldiers from Task Force Pegasus assisted UNMIK police in carrying out a joint search of a house in the town of Klina. The search resulted in the confiscation of two AK-47 assault rifles with bayonets and ammunition. A suspect was taken to the KFOR Spanish military police station in the town of Istok for further questioning. At the time of his arrest, the individual was wanted by police in connection with other criminal activity in the region.

Yesterday afternoon, KFOR Italian soldiers of Task Force Falco carried out a search operation in the town of Brekovac, two kilometers south of Dakovica. A significant amount of weapons and ammunition were discovered - four AK-47 assault rifles, five hand grenades, one mauser rifle, one night vision scope, one machine gun, one hunting rifle, one bullet proof and two shrapnel proof jackets, two chemical protective masks and a pair of binoculars were confiscated. KFOR and UNMIK police are continuing to investigate.

These incidents highlight the KFOR soldiers and leaders in each multinational brigade continuing to dedicate themselves to improving the security situation in Kosovo to all residents regardless of ethnicity or status.

Last night at 8 p.m. two KFOR German soldiers were killed in a single vehicle accident near the town of Klatenovo, 20 kilometers south east of Skopje. The soldiers were driving a five- ton truck as part of a military convoy coming for the Greek port of Thessaloniki. For unknown reasons, the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed through the barrier on the side of the bridge, plunging 75 meters into a canyon. Emergency medical and vehicle recovery elements were immediately dispatched to the scene. Unfortunately it was discovered that both soldiers died because of the accident. Next of kin, in Germany, are still being notified. The KFOR German commander expresses his sympathy and condolences to the relatives of the victims. An investigation into the accident is still ongoing at this time.

OSCE Spokesperson Roland Bless

Yesterday we processed the 500,000th registrant in Kosovo. Registration is going at a steady speed. The daily average remains constant at around 18,000 a day. As registration goes on we are seeing a pattern is developing which is a little worrying in terms of capacity. We see that rural areas are registering at a higher speed than urban areas and especially Pristina is lagging behind. We would kindly ask you to communicate this to your listeners, viewers and readers so that the population of the cities might come and register.

The Central Election Commission, which met on Wednesday, has made a decision to allow citizens groups and independent candidates to have an extra seven days to file in their application for certification for ballot access. This only applies to independent candidates and citizens groups because these groups and individual candidates by definition do not have a backup office and a structure as a party has. For political parties the deadline is still the 11th June.

EU Spokeswoman Irene Mingasson

There is a stability pact meeting today in Thessaloniki, where the department of reconstruction is presenting the 2000 investment programs to international donors.

Concerning power, unit B2 is running and unit A3 is ready to start. Together with imports from Albania and Serbia, total electricity available is 370MW. Coal production is around 6000 tons per day, which is sufficient for the daily operation of B1 and there is adequate coal stock at A3.

As of the 31st May, almost all donor pledges for direct budget support have been received; raising total donor support to the Kosovo budget to 137 million DM. Expenditures from the Kosovo budget by the end of May totaled 117.5 million DM. As regards domestic revenue, following taxation of heating oil at the same excise rate as diesel, the weekly revenue is about 5 million DM per week. The Central Fiscal Authority (CFA) is currently conducting a full review of the Kosovo 2000 budget and it covers expenditures needed to cover basic public service functions and also the revenue projections from customs, sales taxes, excise taxes, food and beverages tax and the new presumptive tax. The process should be over by the end of June.

Finally, the CFA announces the successful installation of the new “free balance” accounting system, which has been provided by a specialized Canadian firm. The system is also used in countries like Canada and the USA. It will improve the record and reporting of budget information.

Questions

Q. Why will the road be closed over the next three days? Is that a specific request from the Serb community there or is that because you’ve got some intelligence report that it might come under attack again?

SS. I don’t know. I’ll have to refer you to the MNB(C) public affairs officer.

Q. What exactly is Kosovo producing at the moment that might be exported to the EU?

IM. It’s a tricky question… Kosovo is producing agricultural products and its construction sector is blooming so there are quite a lot of products that are produced in Kosovo. This will improve in the future.

Q. You said that in the latest Secretary-General’s report that it was stated that the latest violence had undermined the Serb confidence in the area and that it is part of an orchestrated campaign. That implies that Albanians have committed these crimes. Can you clarify what kind of reports have been sent to New York that would indicate that the latest killings are orchestrated and by whom they are orchestrated?

SM. We have no reports on who may have orchestrated the campaign. It is the nature of the type of crimes - the locations are concentrated in two regions. There has been a steady increase since the end of May in grenade attacks, arson and that sort of thing. That has led the Secretary-General to feel that there is some overall possible plan to the type of violence that we are seeing, but no he hasn’t named the perpetrators as a group or in any other way.