UNMIK-KFOR Press Briefing: 25 October 2000
   
UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
KFOR Spokesman Major Steve Shappell
 
UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel

Kosovo Transitional Council

The KTC is discussing the municipal elections today, with a briefing by OSCE head of Mission Daan Everts on the latest developments.

IAC

At the Interim Administrative Council yesterday, SRSG Bernard Kouchner deplored  the incident at an LDK rally held Monday in Gjakova/Djakovica in which Dr. Ibrahim Rugova was forced to leave the stage after the electricity supply was cut and guns fired.

At the IAC also Dr. Kouchner also expressed his shock at the rocket attack Monday night against a Serb-inhabited apartment block in Ulpijana. He went to Ulpijana after the attack and spoke to some of the Serb families who had to be evacuated from the building.

At the IAC and at the KTC, the issue of flags was raised again--as it has been in the KTC today--, with the SRSG re-affirming the position of UNMIK and the OSCE, that only their flags could be raised at polling stations on Saturday, in order to demonstrate the impartiality of the elections. This has also been discussed at the Central Election Commission. However, no decision has been taken as yet on how to implement the policy on Saturday.

The IAC also discussed the co-option, or the appointment, of various community members to the municipal assemblies after the elections, in conformity with the regulation on self-government of municipalities.

And finally the IAC named Mr. Nait Babuna, and economist from the Kosovo Turk community, as co-head of the Department of Transport and Infrastructure. The UNMIK co-head will be Mr. Patrick Auffret, who was the acting head of transportation for UNMIK Civil Administration. With these appointments, all 40 co-heads have been named for the 20 administrative departments.

Detained and Missing Center

On Friday, Dr Kouchner and UNMIK will inaugurate the second branch of the Resource Center for Detainees and Missing Persons. He recently inaugurated the Pristina Resource Center for information on Missing and Detained Persons. There will be a second resource center opened in Gracanica by Dr. Kouchner this Friday at 11 a.m.,  behind the Gracanica municipal building. It will be open to the public on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 to 14 00 and will field a mobile team which will move around Kosovo on the alternate days.

From UNMIK Police:

The Police arrested two men at a PDK rally in Urosevac/Ferizaj yesterday afternoon. One man was carrying a loaded weapon without authorization. A second man threatened the Kosovo Police Service officer making the arrest. The two men are now being held at Bondsteel while UNMIK police prepare charges.

Just after midnight yesterday morning, a Kosovo Albanian man was found lying on a road in Pristina. He had been shot by unknown persons. He was taken to Pristina hospital where he died of his injuries.

As you remember there was a 67-year old  Serb man  found dead under a tree last week with a rope around his neck near Vushtri. UNMIK Police have conducted an autopsy at Pristina hospital which indicated he was murdered. The investigation is proceeding.

A body was found in the Prizren area--Llapqev..late last night. Early examinations indicate he was murdered. A more detailed examination of the scene will be done today.

Power

There has been a problem in the grate of Plant B unit 1, which should be resolved by the end of the day. The French EDF company in charge of the overhaul of unit B2 are meeting with power company managers today to see if there are more problems that could necessitate an overhaul of B1.

Nash

Mitrovica Regional Administrator William Nash has announced that he will be returning to his post at the National Democratic Institute in Washington after completing his assignment with UNMIK in mid-November. There is a press release outside on this and we should have his successor announced later on today.

RTK Media Center

On Saturday, UNMIK will be opening a Broadcast Media Resource Center for broadcast media covering the elections. The center, which will be at Radio Television Kosovo, will be available through the election period, that is through the final certification of results…
 This will be open to all accredited journalists but is specifically designed for broadcast media with an office and equipment center including 15 workstations. Electronic equipment is available to be lent to accredited journalists during the election period. Journalists wishing to avail themselves of the services at the center and to borrow equipment need to register at RTK tomorrow. Bring a valid ID, a letter of guarantee from your media. We have full details of what that letter needs to contain on a press release which will be available shortly. The center is being set up by UNMIK using funding donated by the Government of Japan. UNMIK would like to thank the Government of Japan , as well as the implementing UN agency--the UN Office for Project Services--which is procuring the equipment and shipping it to UNMIK for the election period.

Export of Kosovo wine

The first major export of Kosovo wine since the war began yesterday. The company, Kosovo Vera Vintage in the Prizren area is exporting 1.6 million litres of wine to Japan.

KFOR Spokesman Major Steve Shappel

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This morning I have just got a few items for you.

First, as the municipal election campaign winds down, KFOR Commander Lt. Gen. Carlo Cabigiosu reflected on how the campaign had been conducted. Last night he stated: "I am extremely satisfied with the peaceful atmosphere in which campaigning for the municipal elections has taken place. Further, I wish to commend all of the people of Kosovo for the spirit of democracy they exhibited during all of the various political rallies."

"Let me assure you that on election day, as on every other day, all the soldiers of KFOR will do what is necessary to ensure a safe and secure environment, with freedom of movement for all the people of Kosovo.  Peaceful and fair elections are an important signal to the International Community that Kosovo is prepared to move forward in a
democratic manner."

House Explosion

Just after 8 p.m. last night in Multinational Brigade East, KFOR Explosive Ordnance Disposal experts and a patrol from Task Force 1-36 went to the scene of an explosion at a house near the Viti / Vitina hospital. The house, owned by a Kosovar Albanian, was completely destroyed. Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries.

Initial reports indicate that approximately 14 kilograms of dynamite were used in the explosion.  The incident remains under investigation.

KFOR Opens Health Clinic

Finally, yesterday in Multinational Brigade Centre, after three months of preparatory work,  KFOR Norwegian Battalion soldiers opened a civilian health clinic in the village of Gllanaselle / Gladno Selo. (You will see some pictures here.) (Video of pictures shown in the room).  The facility is part of an on-going KFOR effort to equip the municipality of Gllogoc / Glogovac with new medical facilities.  The project is funded in part by the non-governmental organization Norwegian Aid Committee.  The local
municipalities, in conjunction with KFOR and UNMIK, decide where the money is best spent to benefit as many people as possible.

Questions

Q: Susan, on the electricity situation, (I did not have electricity this morning) you mentioned that a French company was discussing whether it should overhaul unit B1. It is my understanding that this unit was completely renovated just recently.

SM: I got this item just before I came in and that was my recollection as well. B2 is what they are overhauling now but I was trying to recollect which one was completely overhauled last winter. So we do have to clarify that, yes.

Q: It was my understanding that B1 was overhauled a month ago.

SM: As I can recollect, last winter we worked very hard on B1 while B2 had burnt so we will get more information on this later today.

Q: On the flag issue discussed yesterday in the IAC, can you explain to me why if the SRSG's position is that no flag is to be flown: 1) Have the Kosovo leaders accepted this decision? 2) If they have not accepted why have they not been asked, or if they have been asked, why have they not made may be a public statement that they support this decision, and ask all their followers to support this decision and not to intervene?

SM: This is a subject of heated discussion as we speak, in the Kosovo Transitional Council, as it was yesterday in the IAC. The Kosovo Albanian leaders, as well as UNMIK, have not reached a decision as to what to do about this policy, that means to what extent to enforce it. It is one of the administrative rules of the election (not to fly national flags),  but clearly it is a matter of very strong emotion at the highest levels of the Kosovo Albanian leadership, so they are discussing it and haven't yet finalized it.

Q: So, the Kosovo Albanian leadership remains defiant towards an SRSG decision.

SM: You are saying that, I am not saying that. I know they are discussing it.

Q: What is it that they are discussing? The SRSG has taken a decision and now his decision is being discussed? Does the SRSG take a decision and then it is open to discussion? Or if they are discussing then no decision has been made?

SM: He and the OSCE took a decision. As we have discussed in this press briefing before, you guys have asked me to what extent would we go to enforce that decision. We want to have elections without incident. We also want to have impartial elections. We are being observed by the rest of the world as to how impartial the elections will be. So we have a difference of opinion between the people running the elections and some of the people taking part in the elections. It has not yet been concluded to what extent we will be enforcing that policy on Saturday. That is what they are talking about.