UNMIK-KFOR Press Briefing: 21 June 2000

UNMIK Spokeswoman Nadia Younes
KFOR Spokesman Major Scott Slaten

UNMIK Spokeswoman Nadia Younes

UNMIK Police Update

Last night on the Mother Teresa Street around 9 p.m. a Kosovo Serb man and a Kosovo Serb woman were shot by unidentified suspect/s. The woman was shot in the chest and stomach, and is said to be critical but stable condition at the British KFOR Hospital, while the man was shot three times in the leg and is in a stable condition. SRSG Bernard Kouchner at the KTC this morning strongly condemned this cowardly act of violence.

In this connection, at 11.30 a.m., the SRSG will lead the KTC membership to the spot where the two people were shot and will lay a wreath there. He will also make a brief statement there.  Media is invited to attend (details).

SRSG's trip

SRSG Bernard Kouchner leaves today for Brussels where he will make a major presentation tomorrow to the European Parliament on the topic "The experience of managing EU aid in Kosovo". His statement is part of an all day Public Hearing in the Parliament, on the topic of the EU external action on the subject of better management of the Western Balkans. The question of funding of the Kosovo Consolidated Budget will also be discussed at the meeting. 

In Brussels, the SRSG, who will be accompanied by the Head of Pillar IV, Joly Dixon, will also meet Chris Patten before leaving for Paris for high-level meetings with the French government.

Over the weekend, he is scheduled to meet the President, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence of France.

On Monday 26 June, the SRSG accompanied by Blerim Shala and Father Sava, members of the KTC, will attend a Colloquium and Roundtable discussion on the topic of "Kosovo Today".   This will be held in Paris.  The following day, the SRSG will travel to Strasbourg where he will address the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, before returning to Pristina in the afternoon of 27 June.

Today, at 2.15 p.m., before leaving for Brussels, the SRSG will also meet with General Ralston of SACEUR.

KTC

The KTC is meeting right now. The Chief prosecutor of the ICTY, Carla del Ponte is scheduled to address the KTC this morning.

Other issues on the KTC agenda are an update on the preparations for elections, including the issue of proportionality versus majority. As you know, yesterday at the IAC the SRSG consulted the leaders of the political parties and today he will discuss with the full membership of the KTC. No decision has yet been taken on this issue. The KTC will also receive an update on the security situation. SRSG will announce an expansion in the membership of the KTC with more representatives of political parties after they get their certification from the OSCE.

A future session of the KTC will be exclusively devoted to the elections.  This session will coincide with the opening up to the public of all proceedings of the KTC. TV monitors will be installed for the press to watch the proceedings.

IAC

As you know the Interim Administrative Council met yesterday. Apart from the electoral issues as mentioned earlier, it was also briefed about the huge arms cache found last week by the Major General Jean Philippe Wirth, deputy COMKFOR (civil affairs). The needs and steps taken so far for the social welfare of war invalids were also discussed. This subject will be taken up at length in an upcoming meeting. The members were also given a copy of the regulation on municipalities, which will be discussed next Tuesday.

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

Kosovo's first commemorative event in support of victims of torture will be held at 2 p.m. on 26 June at the Grand Hotel. All media is invited.

That day is the International Day in support of Victims of Torture and is being organised by the Kosovo Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims. The 26 June campaign is a global campaign supported by several international organizations, including the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, the European Union, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Oak Foundation and DANIDA.

Let me also remind you of the 12.00 p.m. briefing today by Daan Everts on the Media Regulation.

Gnjilane Trial

The trial of Milos Jokic in Gnjilane District court, which began yesterday, has been adjourned to 17 July.  The prosecutor has added the charges of rape, looting and theft to the original charge of genocide.  The defence didn't oppose the action of the prosecutor.  The panel of judges comprises of an international judge Patrice de Charette and four Albanian judges (3 lay judges and one professional judge).

Sport Department offices inaugurated

The SRSG yesterday inaugurated the office of the Administrative Department of Sports at the Boro and Ramiz Sports Centre.  He congratulated the officials, especially the two co-heads, Jean Selim Kannan and Zunun Pajaziti, and said he was happy to see that they had got funding for the various projects so quickly and noted that the department will work for youth and promote peace and tolerance.  He said he was particularly happy to see two projects coming along well, the summer camps for young Kosovars and the swimming pool.

KFOR Spokesman Major Scott Slaten

Shortly after the shooting on Mother Teresa Street, a KFOR Norwegian soldier and a local man employed by the OSCE, who were standing near the scene, provided first aid assistance and rushed both victims to the British Field Hospital for treatment.

KFOR is currently assisting UNMIK police in gathering information.  Please direct all your questions to the UNMIK police PIO.

Water assistance

KFOR has been asked to provide engineer assistance for twelve local communities in MNB Centre to ensure that adequate drinking water is available.

The Batlava Water Company is scheduled to begin a refurbishment project on the Badovac pumping station starting on Monday, 26 June 2000.  UNMIK is overseeing the overall project in conjunction with the Norwegian contractor NORPLAN.

The construction project is expected to take over five days to complete.  KFOR is working now to install the support base, pillar tanks and water bladders in order to provide adequate drinking water to the local residents throughout the refurbishment.  Once the water bladders are in place and ready for operation UNHCR and UNMIK will be responsible to fill them with drinking water.

The villages affected during the period of construction are primarily located in the MNB Centre "Operation Trojan" sector.  The villages include Hajvlia, Veternik, Gracanica, Caglavica, Lapje Selo, Susica, New Badove, Kishnica, Mirdita, Miradida e larte, Shansikova and Preoce.

Administrative Notes

Reminder:  ICTY Media Event today with Chief Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, who will visit the exhumation site in MNB North (Details).

Questions:

Q:  Do you have further information about what happened last night?  What are the initial findings?

SS: Shots were heard, the soldier came upon the couple, gave first aid along with the local man, and they transported them to the field hospital.  That is all the information we have at this time.

Q:  Do you have their names?

SS:  We are not releasing the names at this time.

Q:  Why such a secret?

SS:  It's a privacy issue at this point.  When they are determined to release the names, they will.

Q:  I don't understand what happened last night… who were those people that were shot last night?

NY: We are not releasing any details about the identity of the people that were shot.  There was one male Serb and one female Serb.  They were on Mother Theresa Street at 9.00 p.m.   They were shot by unidentified suspect/s and were rushed to the hospital.  This act has been condemned by the SRSG.  The SRSG together with members of the KTC will go to lay a wreath in the spot where the shooting took place.

Q:  Regarding the UN War Crimes Tribunal that is being set up in Kosovo, which will be run by international staff… do you have a starting date?  Can you tell us how it is going and whether it is actually going to work?

NY:  We do not have a starting date.  We are hoping that it will be possible to start in summer.  There are still financial problems… meaning that it is not fully funded yet.  We are hopeful that funding will be made available.  As you know, there was a delegation from the Budget Committee of the UN that was here for the past four days.  The ACABQ came to Kosovo to see the situation on the ground.  One of the issues that was discussed was the funding of the court, which will be staffed by international and local judges.  Work has already started in the ex-KFOR Information Centre and that is why they are here… to rehabilitate the building to make it possible for the court to move in there temporarily.