UNMIK-KFOR-OSCE Press Briefing: 30 August 2000

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
KFOR Spokesman Major Scott Slaten
OSCE Spokeswoman Laura O. Mahony

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel

Announcements
A day of many announcements: SRSG Bernard Kouchner travels to Urosevac/Ferizai today for a town hall meeting, along with EU emissary Javier Solana. (Secretary General of the Council of the EU and High Representative of Common Foreign and Security Policy). We have arranged for a press bus leaving here at 3:15. Those who have not done so, please register with Frank Benjaminson. Dr. Kouchner will be visiting a school near the Municipality building at 5 p.m. and will hold the town hall meeting along with Mr. Solana in the Sports Center at 6 p.m.

The next town hall meeting will be Saturday in Istok. Please register your interest in going on a press bus to Sylvana Nzirorera.

Mr. Solana will give a press briefing here at 12:45 tomorrow.

Also tomorrow we begin a series of bimonthly press briefings by the Joint Interim administrative Structure Co-heads--every other Thursday. Tomorrow's briefing will be by the Department of Sport. Co-heads Jean Selim Kanaan and Zenum Pajazati will brief you on the activities of that department since its inception. The briefing will take place in Room C301 in this building& AT 11:30 a.m.

On Friday, at 10:45 a.m., the co heads for education--Dr. Michael Daxner and Mr. Naim Rrustemaj--will also give a press briefing here in this room, on the occasion of the opening of the new academic year which begins next week.

On Monday, Dr. Kouchner, General Ortuno, UNHCR Special Envoy Eric Morris along with members of the Interim Administrative Council--Thaci, Rugova, and Qjosa--will visit Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in Peja/Pec. Following the public visit to the communities in the morning (10:30--),  Koha  Ditore publisher Veton Surroi will moderate a meeting with the municipal council. Later there will be a press briefing by the participants on the visit here in this room at 3pm. We will have information on a press bus at the briefing Friday.

Suspects in car case
The case of the two Suspects in car attack on Serb children, which killed one and injured three, which occurred Sunday in Lipjan have been turned over to an international prosecutor and international judge. Charges may be filed in the coming days. (Emir Sfarga and Aberdin Krasniqi)..
 
UNMIK/KFOR Joint Declaration
We announced last week the regulation on the status of UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo. Accompanying that regulation is a joint declaration which affirms the status of KFOR and UNMIK and their personnel, and the privileges and immunities to which they are entitled, emanating from SC resolution 1244. A copy of the declaration is outside.

Burial
On Saturday at noon, the UNMIK Victim and Identification Commission will sponsor a major burial operation in the area of Makoc outside Pristina. About three weeks ago, the British Forensic Team working under the auspices of ICTY exhumed 83 bodies of civilians of the past conflict in order to identify them. The families were promised a dignified reburial. Members of VRIC have been discussing the reburial with several families of the victims. The VRIC ascertained that the small cemetery would need some expert engineering in order to accommodate all the bodies. For this, the VRIC has asked for the assistance of the Kosovo Protection Corps who volunteered to work on the project with Gen. Ceku's personal supervision. KPC will also provide 300 coffin bearers. All expenses will be borne by the VRIC.

KFOR Spokesman Major Scott Slaten

Operation Resolve
Starting at 6 a.m. yesterday morning, a joint KFOR training exercise, known as . Operation Resolve. , was conducted in the region to test KFOR. s ability to rapidly concentrate military power anywhere within Kosovo.

The majority of troops participating in this exercise came from KFOR Italian MNB West and KFOR US MNB East commands. Both MNB. s utilized reconnaissance, infantry, explosive ordnance disposal and helicopter assets which maneuvered in order to test command and control and communication skills of the Kosovo force.

Mechanized infantry and reconnaissance units were alerted and left their garrisons on short notice to deploy along pre-planned routes to tactical assembly areas prior to execution of their training missions. At the same time, KFOR attack and transport helicopters conducted air assault operations that quickly moved KFOR soldiers into strategic landing zones throughout the area of operations.

Throughout the movement of ground forces, aerial security was provided by KFOR US Apache attack helicopters, fast moving jets based outside of the region and ground fired anti-aircraft defense systems.

The KFOR Greek Force Support Unit (GFSU) provided critical traffic control on all selected routes throughout the operation and ensured that KFOR maneuver units moved smoothly to their designated target areas.

Operation Resolve was successfully concluded yesterday afternoon when all elements returned to their garrisons. Valuable information and lessons were learned by KFOR units operating in the multi-national force here in Kosovo.

The exercise was designed to train KFOR maneuver units and commanders on quick reaction operations in Kosovo. This will improve KFOR. s ability to execute the security mission outlined in UNSR 1244 to provide a safe and secure environment for all people living in the region.

Explosion
Late last night in MNB West, a loud explosion was heard in a building under construction in Peja / Pec.  There were no injuries reported as a result of the explosion, however, the construction site suffered severe damage, and windows in the surrounding houses were blown out.  UNMIK police, KFOR Italian Carabinieri and a KFOR Task Force Aquila Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was also dispatched to the scene.  UNMIK Police assumed control of the investigation.

 
Update on two bodies
The ethnicity of the bodies of two men discovered in MNB South on Monday evening by a KFOR Task Force Zur on the road between the villages of Malesi e Vogel / Radoste and Gede have now been identified as Romas.  UNMIK police are continuing to investigate.

Questions

Q: You used the word attack in the car incident near Lipjan. Is UNMIK now sure that the children were deliberately targeted and it was not a traffic accident as originally thought?

SM: Maybe I was drawing a premature conclusion. No charges have actually been filed. But we are definitely treating the case not as an accident. That is why we have arranged to have the case to be handled by the international prosecutor and judge. But I don. t want to prejudge the charge before they are filed.

Q: You called it an attack. Do you believe it was a political attack?

SM: Well, we hand cases, direct cases to the international judiciary that we believe may have an ethnic/political background.

Q: So even a simple accident is considered a political case?

SM: We are not calling it a simple accident. Probably I shouldn. t have used the word attack. But we believe charges will be filed in the coming day or days and it does not appear to be a simple accident.

Q: How many Serbs have returned from Serbia in August?

SM:  I will have to check with UNHCR. They are going both ways. A lot of returns are spontaneous, but they are not counted. I will check the figures for you.