BELGRADE, Yugoslavia--The elder statesman of Kosovo's independence movement ventured Tuesday to what was once the enemy capital and, in two packed lecture halls and a television phone-in show, demanded that Serbia drop its claim to his predominantly ethnic Albanian province.

The whirlwind visit here by Adem Demaci would have been unthinkable before the ouster of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic nearly four weeks ago. Even 16 months after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombed Milosevic's troops out of Kosovo province, it seemed risky.

But the Kosovo Liberation Army's former political spokesman suffered nothing more than mildly hostile questioning as he opened the first high-profile contact between Serbs and ethnic Albanians from Kosovo since the war--one that could lead to official talks on the province's future.

Kosovo is nominally a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant republic, but has been under U.N. administration since the war. A slate of ethnic Albanians led by Ibrahim Rugova, a moderate who favors secession, won control of the majority of local governments Saturday in Kosovo's first free elections.

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, who replaced Milosevic last month, refused to recognize the elections because Kosovo's dwindling Serbian minority boycotted the vote. During a visit to Norway on Tuesday, Kostunica said an independent Kosovo would be "very dangerous for stability in the region."

But Kostunica said he was "open to all sorts of contacts" with Kosovo Albanians because "enemies need to talk" and understand each other.

It was with that aim that Demaci came to Belgrade, the Yugoslav and Serbian capital, at the invitation of a Serbian businessman. Although he holds no official position in Kosovo, Demaci speaks with the authority of a man who served three prison terms totaling 29 years for espousing independence.

The slight, white-haired Albanian--who shed his combat fatigues for a dark brown suit, white shirt and red tie--looked dapper as he bounced from a university auditorium to a downtown media conference center to a TV studio.

Demaci delivered his version of the bloody independence struggle--the first by a Kosovo Albanian allowed on television in Serbia, where the media under Milosevic portrayed the KLA as a band of terrorists.

"Ours was an uprising of desperate people, who for 10 years were trying to change things in a peaceful way," he said on BK Television, a private network that reaches all of Serbia. Fighting broke out in 1998, he said, after Serbian "crimes" against ethnic Albanians--who were stripped of limited self-rule--became "unbearable."

"Albanians had no other option" but to take up arms, he said in answer to a viewer's question.

The rebellion prompted Milosevic's forces to launch a murderous campaign that expelled hundreds of thousands of Albanians from Kosovo. Eleven weeks of NATO bombing last year allowed the Albanians to return to the province under the protection of NATO-led troops.

Although the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the conflict promised only "substantial autonomy" for Kosovo after a period of international supervision, Demaci insisted Tuesday that "Kosovo is lost for Serbia."

"In essence, Kosovo has seceded," he said on television, urging Serbs to accept the will of the province's ethnic Albanian majority or face the risk of new conflict. "We breathe freely."

The hourlong program was extended by 17 minutes to handle calls from viewers.

At an earlier lecture, Demaci congratulated Serbia's democrats for the peaceful uprising that forced Milosevic to recognize his defeat in the Sept. 24 presidential election.

But his voice rose to a shout as he added: "It's not enough to remove one man. This man left behind a military-police complex and a destructive nationalist mentality."

Zlatomir Popovic, a Serbian journalist, challenged Demaci to justify how Albanians can "demand to take someone else's territory on the basis of their ethnic majority."

"You're still thinking Serbian," Demaci said in retort. After taking Kosovo from the Albanians, he said, Serbs assumed "a right to kill whomever [they] wanted to."

"I don't condemn you. I just feel sorry for you," he said.

Another Serbian journalist asked when she could feel safe walking the streets of Pristina, Kosovo's capital.

"When Belgrade acknowledges our freedom," Demaci replied.

Radio Television Serbia, the state-run network, gave the lecture prominent coverage on its evening newscast and included Demaci's call for the immediate release of the estimated 800 Kosovo Albanians held in Serbian jails.

Bogoljub Karic, a media tycoon who owns BK Television and was close to Milosevic, organized Demaci's one-day visit and sent a car to bring him here from Pristina. Karic told reporters that Serbs should forget about pressing their claim to Kosovo for "the next 50, 100 years" and work with the Albanians to create security for the Serbian minority.

"Nothing is lost," he said, citing the example of Hong Kong. "Hong Kong was outside China for 99 years. Now it's Chinese again."

Les élections municipales, boycottées par les Serbes, ont donné la victoire au modéré Ibrahim Rugova. Fin d'une étape, après quinze mois d'une administration Kouchner au bilan contrasté

©G. Likovski/EPA/AFP

A Mitrovica, le 28 octobre, un Kosovar albanais, dans la file d'attente devant un bureau de vote, exhibe sa carte d'électeur.

Bien sûr, comme à l'accoutumée, Bernard Kouchner s'est félicité. «Je suis très heureux, j'ai rencontré beaucoup de gens. Ils votent pour la première fois de leur vie dans des conditions libres et démocratiques», s'est réjoui le représentant du secrétaire général des Nations unies au Kosovo, fidèle à cet optimisme affiché qui lui tient lieu de ligne politique depuis son arrivée dans la province serbe, il y a plus d'un an. Cette euphorie est-elle vraiment justifiée? Seize mois après l'entrée des soldats de l'Otan dans un Kosovo alors en proie à la terreur des forces de répression serbes, le bilan de l'administration onusienne est contrasté. A l'image du déroulement, quelque peu chaotique, des élections municipales organisées le 28 octobre: l'épouse du principal chef politique albanais, le dirigeant pacifiste Ibrahim Rugova, vainqueur de ce scrutin, n'a ainsi pas trouvé son nom sur les registres électoraux, malgré un recensement en bonne et due forme sous contrôle international.

Datée du 10 juin 1999, la résolution 1244 du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU avait chargé «la présence civile internationale» au Kosovo de remplir trois missions: mettre en place un régime provisoire d'«autonomie substantielle» avec élection d'instances représentatives; encourager la reconstruction de la province; promouvoir un Etat de droit et assurer, en toute sécurité, le retour des réfugiés. A l'évidence, on en est loin. La semaine dernière, l'organisation Human Rights Watch livrait un verdict sans complaisance: «La tenue d'élections libres et justes au Kosovo suppose, comme conditions de base, une protection suffisante des minorités ethniques, la liberté de circulation, des médias libres et un environnement sans violence politique capable d'assurer la liberté de réunion, d'association, d'expression. Ces conditions ne sont pas réunies dans le Kosovo d'aujourd'hui.»

Des enclaves gardées par les soldats de l'Otan

La violence frappe d'abord ceux qui, au sein de la minorité serbe, s'obstinent à rester sur une terre où eux aussi vivent depuis des générations. On estime que 170 000 personnes ont fui, ces quinze derniers mois. Pour les 100 000 Serbes encore présents au Kosovo, qui ont boycotté le scrutin, la survie passe par le regroupement dans des enclaves gardées par les soldats de l'Otan, en butte aux attaques régulières d'extrémistes albanais bien décidés à «nettoyer» la province de leur présence. Les rapports quotidiens de la Kfor, la force militaire internationale, composée de 36 000 soldats, en témoignent. Mercredi 25 octobre, une grenade visait la maison d'une famille serbe à Binac (sud). Lundi 23, à Pristina même, la capitale de la province, une roquette antichars prenait pour cible un bloc d'immeubles où résident des Serbes. Le même jour, à Orahovac, dans le Sud, une maison tsigane était incendiée. «Le meurtre, les incendies, des formes d'intimidation moins violentes sont encore une réalité quotidienne», rappelait, ces jours derniers, l'Organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe (OSCE), chargée de veiller au bon déroulement des élections municipales.

En août dernier, la branche belge de Médecins sans frontières décidait d'arrêter ses opérations dans le nord du Kosovo pour protester contre la passivité de la communauté internationale: «Les groupes ethniques sont continuellement terrorisés, dénonçait alors le chef de mission, Philippe Rosen. Cela s'apparente à du nettoyage ethnique, tout au moins à de l'homogénéisation ethnique. Nous refusons d'être complices de ce qui se passe.» Dans l'ouest du Kosovo, c'est en novembre 1999 que la branche française de MSF avait cessé son travail dans les enclaves serbes: «Nous sommes en désaccord avec un système qui fixe des personnes dans une situation où leur protection ne peut être assurée», dénonce Graziella Godain, responsable de projet à MSF France. Cruelle ironie: Bernard Kouchner fut, il y a moins de trente ans, l'un des fondateurs de MSF...

Investis, non sans solennité, par la mission onusienne du devoir de construire un Etat de droit, les juges albanais ont rapidement montré leurs limites. «Le climat continuel d'affrontement interethnique a influé sur l'impartialité des tribunaux», souligne un autre rapport de l'OSCE.

Les Serbes ne sont pas les seules victimes de ce climat de violence et d'intimidation. Sur le champ de ruines du Kosovo libéré, la dissolution officielle de l'Armée de libération du Kosovo (UCK), pressée de toucher les dividendes de sa «victoire», et les faibles moyens de l'administration des Nations unies ont laissé place à un vide où se sont engouffrés des gangs mafieux albanais. En septembre, l'urbaniste en chef de Pristina était abattu quelques jours après avoir lancé une campagne de démolition des constructions illégales. Un avertissement parfaitement entendu par tous. «Bon nombre des 19 partis politiques en lice pour les municipales ne servent, le plus souvent, que de paravent à des activités criminelles», constate un diplomate occidental. Après avoir longtemps fermé les yeux, la police onusienne commence à réagir. Début octobre, après une fusillade au night-club Miami Beach Club de Pristina, Sabit Geci, un des anciens chefs de la guérilla albanaise, était interpellé. C'est un proche de Hashim Thaci, l'ex-chef de l'UCK. Ce dernier dirige aujourd'hui le PDK (Parti démocratique du Kosovo), principal rival de la Ligue démocratique du Kosovo (LDK) d'Ibrahim Rugova.

Un début de normalisation?

Marqué par une nette victoire du mouvement de Rugova, figure historique de la résistance non violente et porte-parole des notables traditionnels albanais, le scrutin du 28 octobre peut-il être l'amorce d'un début de normalisation? C'est, en tout cas, l'espoir des Occidentaux, pas fâchés de voir la nouvelle génération de dirigeants issus de la lutte armée reléguée dans l'opposition par le choix des urnes. La communauté internationale souhaite désormais, en effet, ouvrir un nouveau chapitre de la question kosovare. Avec d'autres protagonistes. Non pas pour résoudre la question du statut final: tous les Albanais sont unanimes à demander l'indépendance. Et Belgrade, comme les Européens, ne veut parler que d'autonomie. Mais, au moins, pour gérer, avec le minimum de heurts, le statu quo. La victoire de Rugova, un indépendantiste, certes, comme tous les Albanais de la province, mais plus sensible aux pressions européennes, est un premier signe favorable. L'alternance démocratique intervenue à Belgrade avec l'élection de Vojislav Kostunica, un nationaliste serbe, certes, mais prêt à concéder, au nom du réalisme, la plus large autonomie à la province à condition que la souveraineté yougoslave (même symbolique) soit préservée et que les réfugiés serbes puissent revenir, permet la reprise du dialogue avec les capitales européennes.

Le départ attendu de Bernard Kouchner pourrait faciliter cette décrispation. Le Français ne cache pas sa lassitude. Il est dépité de ne pas avoir été retenu pour le poste, à très forte visi- bilité médiatique, de haut- commissaire des Nations unies pour les réfugiés, finalement dévolu au Néerlan-dais Ruud Lubbers. Les autorités serbes, enfin, lui dénient la qualité d'interlocuteur. Et ses maladresses à l'encontre du président yougoslave ne plaident guère en sa faveur. Au lendemain de l'insurrection du 5 octobre, à Belgrade, il pressait, en vain, les ministres européens de ne pas lever, sur-le-champ et sans condition, les sanctions. Dans un entretien accordé au Figaro, le 28 octobre, il ajoutait, à propos de Kostunica: «Sa victoire, en quelque sorte, il me la doit», en dénonçant la «part de folie» dans les «idées» du président yougoslave. De quoi embarrasser les chancelleries occidentales. Une nouvelle fois.

Poetic sentiments and bullets can never co-exist for long in a land mired in bloodshed and violence.

This is a reality the international community shouldn't ignore as it is tempted to celebrate the victory on Saturday of moderates in the Serbian province of Kosovo, where the ethnic Albanian majority was finally able to vote freely in local elections. No one should know that reality better than professor Ibrahim Rugova, a poetry-loving intellectual and Kosovo's best-known ethnic Albanian politician, and the big winner in the election.

But while Rugova's ostensible victory is welcome to the international community, especially for peacekeeping countries including Canada, the victory could cause ethnic Albanians to turn on each other -- a prospect simmering since militants launched guerrilla warfare against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

Contrary to the expectations of militants, Kosovo voters supported more moderate leaders, particularly the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, led by Rugova. Convinced they had put their own lives on the line during fighting against Milosevic's forces, the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, had expected to continue to control most of the province's 30 local governments. They assumed their political arm, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, headed by Hashim Thaci, would win handily. Giving up control was not on their agenda, especially giving it up to moderates whom they hold in contempt.

But many voters, particularly in cities, were apparently tired of the hard-line policies of the PDK and the favourtism shown to its own followers. Some undoubtedly were aware of the unsavoury links ex-KLA members allegedly had with criminal elements and illicit activities, including the drug trade.

Another factor swaying voters would have been their disinclination to back the strong-arm tactics of former guerrillas, whose physical attacks against political opponents included the killing of one of Rugova's close followers.

Rugova is up against political rivals who've never hesitated to use terrorist tactics against enemies. These people assassinated Serb officials and security personnel, knowing Milosevic would retaliate brutally against innocent civilians. The KLA also tortured prisoners and mutilated the bodies.

Still entrenched in the countryside, the KLA is not going to disappear from the political landscape. The former leader of the KLA, Agim Ceki, is now the head of the Kosovo Protection Corps, the NATO backed security service, a critically important position for controlling future events.

While Thaci has reportedly said he will accept the verdict of voters, he really couldn't say anything else given that the elections were organized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on behalf of the United Nations administration running Kosovo. His movement is not in a position to challenge the UN and 20,000 KFOR military personnel stationed there -- at least not now.

But the ex-KLA insurgents can be expected to come back to the charge, especially over independence for Kosovo. Although moderates want independence, they probably will proceed cautiously, particularly since Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica has publicly apologized for past violence and indicated a willingness to begin a dialogue with ethnic Albanians. Nevertheless, ex-KLA members will attempt to portray Rugova as not nationalistic enough, and will exploit every opportunity -- including intimidation and force -- to undermine his authority.

Some of them are promoting an enlarged ethnic Albanian nation, taking territory from Macedonia and a slice of Serbia, a proposal fraught with obvious political risks for Rugova, who knows the strong negative reaction this would generate in the region and abroad. Outside nations should do whatever they can to ensure that the ultimate winners in Kosovo are not dubious leaders but rather democracy and the rule of law.

Harry Sterling, a former diplomat, lives in Ottawa.

The people of the Balkans are increasingly choosing ballots over bullets. Last weekend's victory for moderate candidates in Kosovo's local elections is the latest sign the region is turning its back on violence.

The victory for Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo was particularly encouraging because it marked a sharp repudiation of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Though the KLA, with NATO help, overthrew Serbian rule in Kosovo last year, Kosovo voters made it clear they prefer the Democratic League's more gradualist, tolerant approach over the intimidation and corruption of the KLA's successor, the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

Western countries have praised the Democratic League's victory, but would be mistaken to think Kosovar Albanians have given up on their ultimate objective of independence from Serbia. Mr. Rugova shares that goal with the Democratic Party of Kosovo, but would offer non-Albanian minorities a better guarantee of fair treatment in an independent Kosovo.

Granting such independence would contravene the United Nations Security Council resolution ending last year's war between NATO and Serbia, which reaffirmed that Kosovo is part of Yugoslavia. The U.S. may now be ready to accept an independent Kosovo, but is reluctant to publicize this volte-face lest it anger Serb hardline nationalists ... . But that's exactly the kind of duplicity that caused so much turmoil at the start of the Yugoslav wars in 1991.

...

Western countries should encourage both sides to negotiate a new political arrangement, including the possibility of Kosovan independence, regardless of what the UN resolution says.

The people of the Balkans know the terrible price they have paid for the past decade's wars, from Slovenia to Kosovo. Now that democracy is taking root in the region, the West should encourage it as the right way to deal with the status of Kosovo also.

Malisevo envoyé spécial

Le lieu est presque caché. Il faut d'abord monter un petit escalier le long de la façade d'un magasin de tissu, puis traverser un immeuble en construction par deux passerelles improvisées pour arriver enfin au siège de la LDK (Ligue démocratique du Kosovo) de Malisevo. Attaqué et dévasté il y a un mois, le local a été retapé avec, au mur, un grand portrait de leur leader Ibrahim Rugova. Ce n'est pas toujours simple d'être militant de ce parti dans cette commune de montagne, à 50 km à l'ouest de Pristina, où fut installée, dès le printemps 1998, la première «zone libérée» par l'Armée de libération du Kosovo (UCK). Pourtant, là aussi, les modérés de la LDK ont remporté les municipales du 28 octobre avec 50,1 % des voix, devançant de 9 points le PDK (Parti démocratique du Kosovo) d'Hashim Thaçi, l'ancien commandant de l'UCK.

Sacrifice. «Nous espérions qu'ils viennent nous féliciter comme cela est normal dans une démocratie, mais, pour le moment, il n'y a pas eu de contact officiel», se lamente Cen Desku, 49 ans, pilier de la LDK dans la commune. «Nous attendons les chiffres définitifs car il faut encore comptabiliser le vote des policiers et des émigrants», rétorque Deli Thaçi, secrétaire local du PDK, qui se raccroche à cet ultime espoir. Il reconnaît «être surpris» par les résultats: «Nous pensions que le peuple voterait pour ceux qui ont le plus sacrifié pour lui, pour ceux qui ont combattu.» A ses yeux, la seule explication possible est la fraude: «Les internationaux ont délibérément favorisés la LDK.» Perdre la majorité à Malisevo, cela signifie abandonner tous les postes de responsabilité de la commune, tous les emplois publics dont ont largement profité les proches du parti.

Nommé par Hashim Thaçi, en juin 1999, après le départ des forces serbes, le maire sortant qui, depuis, avait créé une liste indépendante mais était resté proche du PDK, devra quitter les lieux. «Nous devons respecter les résultats comme a dit notre président Hachim Thaçi, nous le ferons et nous continuerons à dénoncer les manipulations de ces élections», précise le secrétaire local du PDK, affirmant «ne pas vouloir de confrontation». La LDK, elle, se veut, au moins en apparence, optimiste: «Après la guerre, en juin 1999, ils (ceux de l'UCK, ndlr) avaient le pouvoir, alors qu'ils n'étaient même pas élus. Nous avons collaboré loyalement. Maintenant, nous avons le soutien du peuple et nous devons être respectés.» La passation de pouvoir s'annonce néanmoins délicate. Dans les autres premiers bastions de la guérilla, comme Glogovac, Skenderaj, le PDK a remporté la victoire avec des scores écrasants de 80 à 85 % des voix, jouant tout à la fois d'un prestige réel dans la population et de l'intimidation. A Malisevo, 60 000 habitants dont 3 000 dans le chef-lieu, cela n'a pas fonctionné.

«L'UCK est le peuple.» «Nous avons refusé de leur abandonner le terrain, les gens ont soutenu la LDK pendant une résistance de dix ans et ils savent qui nous sommes», explique Cen Desku, qui ne s'est pas laissé intimidé par les menaces. Enseignant et père de cinq enfants, ce membre fondateur de la LDK en a vu d'autres. Arrêté alors qu'il était encore étudiant, emprisonné deux fois, interpellé trente fois par la police serbe, Cen Desku a aussi été détenu un mois par les hommes de l'UCK, en même temps que le président local de la LDK. C'était en octobre 1998. «Ils nous ont mis un sac sur la tête, puis après nous avoir copieusement tabassé, ils nous ont dit: "Vous n'avez pas le droit de faire de la politique, l'UCK est le peuple."»

Inattaquable. Finalement, ils furent relâchés sous la pression des internationaux et de la population. Pendant la guerre du printemps 1999, Cen Desku, était dans les montagnes avec 20 000 réfugiés, encerclés par les forces serbes. Ce passé inattaquable explique son prestige. Depuis la victoire, avant-hier soir, les affiches de la LDK commencent à apparaître sur les murs où trônaient celles du PDK ou du maire sortant. «Beaucoup craignaient de montrer leurs convictions. Mais dans les urnes, ils ont montré ce qu'ils veulent vraiment, explique le vieux militant de la LDK, rasséréné des résultats. Je crois que nous n'avons pas déçu la communauté internationale qui nous a aidés dans les moments difficiles».

.Le président yougoslave Vojislav Kostunica s'est dit hier prêt à «entamer un dialogue sous peu» avec Rugova, tout en rejetant sa revendication d'indépendance pour le Kosovo.

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Nov 1 (AFP) - Kosovo's Serb minority will participate in a new round of UN-run municipal elections to be held because it boycotted a previous poll, a Serb leader said Wednesday.

Rada Trajkovic, a leading member of the Serbian National Council (SNC), told reporters that the body would meet Kosovo's UN chief Bernard Kouchner to arrange voter registration for an election to be held "within a few months."

The registration would take in both the 100,000 or so Serbs still living in the UN-run Yugoslav province and the 170,000 who have fled to Serbia-proper in the 16 months since a NATO-led peacekeeping force arrived in Kosovo, she said.

The SNC also expected to take part in Serbian legislative elections on December 23, she said.

Kosovo's Serbs boycotted the province's first post war election on Saturday, fearing that it would reinforce ethnic Albanian demands for independence.

Serb leaders also claimed they had had no freedom of movement of expression.

"We don't have basic human rights now in Kosovo," said Trajkovic, who travels with armed guards when outside Kosovo's remaining Serb enclaves.

Trajkovic said the decision to participate in by-elections to choose Serb representatives for the municipal councils did not add up to an acceptance that Kosovo was on its way to independence.

"Living in Kosovo, I have a right to participate in local elections," she said. "And as an inhabitant of Serbia I have the right to participate in elections in Serbia as well, under the constitution which is still in power."

Saturday's municipal election, which was won by Ibrahim Rugova's ethnic Albanian nationalist Democratic League of Kosovo, was organised by Kouchner as part of his mandate to give Kosovo "substantial autonomy."

Following the vote, in which no Serb parties stood and only a tiny handful of Serbs voted, Kouchner offered to hold by-elections for the Serbs.

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Nov 1 (AFP) - A Kosovo man was shot dead during an apparent gunbattle in the first serious outbreak of violence since the province's municipal elections, a UN police spokesman said Wednesday.

Hazir Raci, a 40-year-old musician, was killed at 1:10 pm (1210 GMT) Tuesday in Klina, western Kosovo, during what investigators believe was an exchange of fire with two unidentified gunmen, Dmitri Kaportsev told AFP.

A Kalashnikov assault rifle which may have belonged to the victim was found next to his body, he said, adding that a preliminary investigation had found no evidence of a political motive for the shooting. No arrests have been made.

UN spokeswoman Susan Manuel said that while Raci was a member of Ibrahim Rugova's moderate Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) -- which on Saturday won a crushing victory over hardline parties led by former guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the province's first post war municipal election -- the shooting was not thought to be political.

According to partial results released late Tuesday, hours before the killing, the LDK won 58 percent of the vote and 21 out of 27 contested municipalities, beating the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) of Hashim Thaci, former KLA political leader, into second place on 27 percent.

PODGORICA, Yugoslavia, Nov 1 (AFP) - The leadership of the pro-independence Yugoslav republic of Montenegro complained Wednesday that it had not been "consulted" over moves to bring Yugoslavia into the United Nations.

Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic told state television that while his republic "hails the victory of democracy in Serbia" with Vojislav Kostunica's election as Yugoslav president over longtime strongman Slobodan Miloseic, relations between Serbia and Montenegro -- the constituent republics of Yugoslavia -- need to be further discussed.

"One of the possibilities is that Serbia and Montenegro could be independently recognised states which could have their seats in the United nations," Djukanovic said.

"That is why I asked the UN Security council member states, the secretary general, the OSCE and the European Council to have this in mind when they make new decisions over Yugoslavia's admission into the United nations," he said, referring to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Acting on a request by Kostunica, the UN Security Council recommended on Tuesday that the General Assembly admit Yugoslavia to the United Nations and diplomats said the assembly was expected to vote on the application later Wednesday.

Yugoslavia's seat at the UN was declared vacant more than eight years ago when the old socialist federal republic fell apart.

Serbia and Montenegro have been the sole remaining partners of the Yugoslav federation since 1992, after Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia broke away from Josip Tito's Communist Yugoslavia.

But Montenegro, which has a population of just 650,000, has been edging towards indepedence since Djukanovic came to power in 1998.

Djukanovic, a fierce critic of Milosevic, said that Yugoslavia today was "just a fiction."

"We should neither just keep alive an old fiction nor make a new Yugoslavia out of two healthy states," he said.

"We should have mutual relations as two healthy, stable states, with a certain form of community," he insisted.

BELGRADE, Nov 1 (AFP) - Yugoslavia is preparing to renew diplomatic ties with four Western powers which were severed at the start of the 1999 NATO bombing campaign, the official Tanjug news agency reported Wednesday.

Belgrade, under then president Slobodan Milosevic, cut off ties with the United States, Britain, France and Germany on March 25, 1999, a day after NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia.

"Necessary technical preparations... as handover of embassies' keys and inspection of diplomatic premises, have already started," the agency reported, quoting well-informed diplomatic sources.

The agency said further contacts would be made after Yugoslavia "is readmitted" to the United Nations.

Since the end of the bombing campaign in June 1999, France, Britain and Germany have opened interest sections in Belgrade within the diplomatic missions of the countries representing them -- Switzerland, Brazil and Japan.

Germany announced in Berlin Wednesday it had decided to start a formal exchange of correspondence with Belgrade, laying the groundwork for the resumption of diplomatic ties.

BERLIN (AP) _ Germany said Wednesday it will revive diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia in an effort to support democracy there after Slobodan Milosevic was ousted as president in a popular uprising last month.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's cabinet decided to exchange diplomatic notes with the Yugoslav government with the goal of establishing relations, a government statement said. When relations will resume has yet to be determined, the statement added.

``The German government in this way support democratic change in Belgrade and sets a signal for Germany's future support of Yugoslavia,'' the statement said.

PODGORICA, Yugoslavia, Nov 1 (AFP) - President Vojislav Kostunica arrived here Wednesday to chair a meeting of Yugoslavia's top defense body that could lead to a shakeup in the military brass, less than a month after taking office.

Kostunica, accompanied by the head of the Yugoslav army chief of staff, General Nebojsa Pavkovic, was greeted at the airport by Montenegrin parliament speaker Svetozar Marovic and the head of Yugoslav forces in Montenegro.

Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic, who has distanced himself from Belgrade, was expected to attend the meeting of the Supreme Defense Council, the first since Kostunica took office on October 7.

Djukanovic was to insist on sacking some of the military brass, according to the Montenegrin daily Vijesti, notably Pavkovic and General Milorad Obradovic, who heads Yugoslav forces in Montenegro.

Sources from Djukanovic's office confirmed that the session had started, despite the absence of Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, a Milosevic ally.

The defense council, which has met only once in the past two years, is chaired by the Yugoslav president and comprises the presidents of the two partner republics, Serbia and Montenegro, the Yugoslav army chief of staff and the federal defense minister.

Kostunica's office said a statement would be issued later in the day.

Despite numerous calls to dismiss Pavkovic, considered a close Milosevic ally, Kostunica has failed to impose personnel changes in the army, a move analysts see as key to ensure loyalty among the military.

In his contacts with the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), the coalition that backed Kostunica's presidential bid, Pavkovic "has expressed readiness to retire under certain conditions," the daily said.

Vijesti said that Djukanovic would also demand the disbanding of the Yugoslav army 7th batallion, which his allies have described as a "paramilitary unit formed of pro-Milosevic's forces."

The unit, unofficially estimated at about 1,500 soldiers, has been a "direct threat to the Montenegrin civilian authority and civic peace in Montenegro," the daily said.

The Yugoslav army insists that the 7th batallion is a regular unit and has rejected charges by Montenegro.

Djukanovic has accused Milosevic of using the military to exert pressure on Podgorica's reformist leadership and bridled openly at steps by the Belgrade strongman to limit Montenegro's role in federal politics.

Since Djukanovic came to power in 1998, Montenegro has been edging towards independence from Belgrade and the Yugoslav army remains virtually the sole federal institution present in the republic.

During Milosevic's rule, Podgorica has accused the army of jeopardizing the republic's civilian authorities, while Western officials often warned the ousted strongman against using force against Montenegro.

POZAREVAC, Yugoslavia, Nov 1 (AFP) - Kosovo Albanian human rights activist Flora Brovina was released from prison in the eastern Serbian town Pozarevac Wednesday.

Brovina was pardoned Wednesday by Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, her lawyer Branko Stanic told reporters.

She was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in December 1999 for "terrorist activities" in Kosovo allegedly connected to last year's NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) _ In an apparent attempt to turn up the heat on the new Yugoslav leadership, the U.N. war crimes tribunal said Wednesday it is seeking one of the Bosnian war's most notorious figures, who is alleged to be hiding out in Serbia.

Bosnian Serb paramilitary leader Milan Lukic was indicted in 1998 in connection with the burning alive of 135 Muslim men, women and children, and for other atrocities. However, the indictment was kept secret in the hope that NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia would catch him off guard.

Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte's spokeswoman, Florence Hartmann, said Lukic's name has now been released because ``the suspect knows he is under indictment'' following the arrest of co-accused Mitar Vasiljevic earlier this year.

Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale called on new Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica to hand over the suspect if he is sheltering in Serbia, beyond the reach of NATO troops.

The tribunal also named as the third and final suspect in the indictment Lukic's cousin Sredoje Lukic, also a member of the ``White Eagles'' paramilitary gang.

Persecutors say the gang terrorized Muslim inhabitants of the area around Visegrad on the Bosnian-Serbian border throughout the 1992-95 ethnic conflict.

The indictment charges that the three ``committed, planned, instigated, ordered or otherwise aided and abetted'' the slaughter of 135 Muslim civilians, who were locked inside two houses in Visegrad and in the suburb of Bikavac in June 1992.

The suspects boarded up the doors and windows of the homes, lobbed grenades inside and shot at victims trying to flee, the indictment says.

Landale said the two men are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity ``for their alleged participation in the mass murder, torture and cruel treatment'' of Muslim civilians between May 1992 and October 1994.

French troops serving in the NATO peacekeeping force arrested Vasiljevic last January. His trial is expected to begin within a few months.

But according to New York Times reporter Chuck Sudetic, the arrest of the lesser suspect alerted Milan Lukic that tribunal prosecutors were on to him. In his book ``Blood and Vengeance,'' Sudetic has detailed Lukic's alleged role in the slaughter of Muslims in the Visegrad area.

For many Bosnians, Lukic's name is synonymous with the bloodiest acts of terror committed as part of the Serb campaign to create an ethnically pure state in Bosnia.

Lukic's unit also is alleged to be responsible for the 1993 abduction of 19 civilians _ mostly Muslims _ from a Montenegro-bound train as it passed through a sliver of Bosnia. All are missing after being robbed and several were found shot dead.

Authorities in Serb-led Yugoslavia have never issued a formal finding on the incident, despite repeated calls by relatives of the victims. They have also failed to respond to repeated requests by prosecutors in the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, who want to question Lukic in connection with the trial of another suspect accused of participating in the massacre.

Although the new Yugoslav leader has promised to cooperate with the tribunal, the chief prosecutor's spokeswoman said he has still not responded to her requests for access to witnesses and documents in Yugoslavia.

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) _ NATO-led peacekeepers backed by helicopters and bomb-sniffing dogs raided two Serb villages south of Pristina on Wednesday, seizing illegal weapons and ammunition, the NATO-led command said.

The operation, carried out by about 150 British and 100 Swedish troops, began before dawn in the villages of Caglavica and Laplje Selo, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) south of Pristina, according to NATO spokesman Maj. Steven Shappell.

Troops found at least six automatic rifles, three shotguns, 11 handguns, 789 rounds of ammunition and two sticks of dynamite, he said. The operation was still underway at midday.

``KFOR is determined to remove illegal weapons from all communities and to reinforce the message that violence has no place in the democratic future of Kosovo,'' Shappell said, referring to the NATO-led Kosovo Force's acronym.

The raid took place four days after Kosovo's first election since Yugoslav forces handed the province over to the United Nations and NATO following the alliance's 78-day bombing of Yugoslavia.

The bombing campaign was aimed at halting a crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists by former President Slobodan Milosevic. The election was to choose members of municipal councils. Kosovo Serbs boycotted the vote.

NIS, Yugoslavia (AP) _ Three Yugoslav soldiers went on trial Wednesday to face murder charges in the killing of an ethnic Albanian couple during the Kosovo conflict.

The three soldiers, including one officer and two enlisted men, are accused in the March 29, 1999 deaths of Ferizi Krasniqi and his wife Rukia near the village of Gornja Susica.

Prosecutors say the couple refused orders to leave their home, after which one of the soldiers, Tomica Jovic, allegedly took the husband out of the house and shot him in the back. Another soldier, Nenad Stamenkovic, allegedly killed the disabled Rukia in her bed.

The three defendants have denied the charges. Stamenkovic and Jovic admitted the killings in pretrial depositions but told the court they made up the story to incriminate the third defendant, Maj. Dragisa Petrovic.

During the opening session, Petrovic testified that his unit was under great stress at the time of the killing because the NATO bombing campaign had just begun and the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was resisting government forces.

He said the stress increased after two fellow Serbs were killed next to him during a KLA attack a few days before the ethnic Albanian couple died.

All three defendants could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in jail if convicted.

Ethnic tensions in Kosovo exploded into open conflict in early 1998 after then-President Slobodan Milosevic launched a crackdown to crush the KLA, which had been ambushing Yugoslav police.

In March 1999, NATO began bombing Yugoslavia to force Milosevic to halt the crackdown. He agreed to a peace plan in June under which Yugoslav forces left the province and handed it over to the United Nations and NATO-led peacekeepers.

The Milosevic government denied responsibility for atrocities that took place in Kosovo. However, the three defendants were arrested in August 1999 _ more than a year before Milosevic was ousted from power.

Charges against them were made public after Milosevic lost the Sept. 24 presidential election and was replaced on Oct. 7 by the new president, Vojislav Kostunica.

DJAKOVICA, Yugoslavia (AP) _ Dozens of ethnic Albanians seeking information about loved ones missing after the Kosovo conflict stormed out of a meeting with a Swedish U.N. envoy Wednesday after he urged them to cooperate with the Serbs.

More than 300 people, many of them old women clutching photographs of missing sons and husbands, gathered in a hall here to meet with Henrik Amneus, the U.N. special representative for detained and missing people in Kosovo.

They had come hoping for word of relatives whom they hope are still being held in prisons in Serbia nearly 18 months after the Kosovo conflict ended.

Instead, Amneus, 69, launched into a speech on how Belgrade's new pro-democracy leadership under President Vojislav Kostunica is ready to meet with Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and that the people of Kosovo should welcome Yugoslavia's democratic turnabout.

``You may think the international community is embracing the new leadership in Belgrade too quickly without getting something in return,'' he told the stunned crowd. ``But I know that in discussions that are going on in New York and other places the concerns that you are expressing today are part of these discussions.''

With every words, the crowd grew more angry until Istres Asllani, whose two nephews are known to be held in Serbia and a third nephew is missing, stood up and walked out. The others followed.

``Don't you tell us how democratic Serbia has become and what a democrat Kostunica is,'' Asllani shouted at Amneus before storming out. ``We know how democratic they are. All the people who were killed and are still missing are the proof.''

About 3,400 people _ mostly Albanians but also Serbs and Gypsies _ are still missing after the conflict. Their fate is one of the toughest political issues in the province since NATO's 78-day bombing campaign forced President Slobodan Milosevic's troops to leave in June 1999.

Nowhere is the issue hotter than in Djakovica, which the ethnic Albanians call Gjakova. About 750 ethnic Albanian men remain unaccounted for after Yugoslav forces overran the town during the 78-day NATO bombing campaign.

``If you have any news for us, tell us,'' Asllani said. ``Otherwise don't you ever come back to Djakovica and 'deceive' these poor mothers.''

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority has also reacted to Kostunica with great skepticism, since he toppled Milosevic's government in a popular revolt. The Albanians see the new Yugoslav leader as a Serb nationalist who will impede their goal of full independence from Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic.

During a visit to Belgrade last week, the U.N. envoy said he was unable to meet with Kostunica. Yugoslav officials say they are finishing a draft decree granting amnesty to all political prisoners, including many Kosovo Albanians.

``It was my assessment that these problems are being addressed with genuine good will by the Yugoslav authorities,'' Amneus said.

The Swedish diplomat seemed unfazed by the angry reaction, telling reporters: ``I understand their feelings, but mine is a legal mission.''

Yugoslavia's top defence body is meeting on Wednesday amid demands by Montenegro - Serbia's partner in the Yugoslav Federation - for greater control over armed forces.

The Yugoslav President, Vojislav Kostunica, has moved quickly to improve relations with Montenegro since he came to power in a popular uprising against his predecessor Slobodan Milosevic.

Montenegro is demanding the dismissal of the Yugoslav army's chief-of-staff, General Nebojsa Pavkovic, and the commanders of the Second Army, which is based in Montenegro. They were loyal supporters of Mr Milosevic when he was in power.

Montenegro's Government also wants the dismantling of the Seventh Battalion - a military unit closely linked with previously pro-Milosevic forces in Montenegro.

In the longer term, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic is aiming for a much more comprehensive reform of the military, which would give Podgorica control over the Yugoslav navy as well as army units based in Montenegro.

But the Supreme Defence Council - chaired by Mr Kostunica and comprising the presidents of Montenegro and Serbia as well as armed forces chiefs - also provides a fresh channel of communication between Serbia and Montenegro.

That is because the Montegrin Government continues to boycott the Yugoslav Government and parliament, which it believes were elected in an unlawful way after Mr Milosevic forced through constitutional amendments.

Within days of taking over as president on 7 October, Mr Kostunica called a meeting of the defence council.

But that had to be postponed when Mr Djukanovic was injured in a car accident. Three weeks later, that meeting is now going ahead

MOSCOW, November 1 (Itar-Tass) - The UN General Assembly's recommendation to admit Yugoslavia into the United Nations, endorsed by the Security Council on Tuesday, can be regarded as the confirmation by the world community of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Sergei Shishkarev, the deputy chairman of the Duma committee for international affairs, told Tass on Wednesday.

He believes Yugoslavia's overcoming international isolation should be aided by effective economic measures which should mainly be shouldered by NATO countries who are to blame for destroying considerable part of Yugoslavia's infrastructure and economy.

Russia contributes to resolving problems of life support for Yugoslavia's population with the winter drawing nearer, having decided to resume gas supplies to Yugoslavia, Shishkarev said. However, the problems of the continued existence of this Balkans state are mainly politically related, he said.

MOSCOW, November 1 (Itar-Tass) - Major-General Vladimir Kazantsev has been appointed new commander of the Russian military contingent in Kosovo, the Russian Defence Ministry told Tass on Wednesday.

Kazantsev is to fly to Kosovo on November 3 to assume his duties, representatives of the Russian defence agency told Tass. Kazantsev previously held the post of combat training chief of the Russian airborne troops.

Kazantsev's candidacy to the post of new commander of the Russian military contingent in Kosovo was referred to the general staff by the Military Council of the Russian airborne troops early in the Autumn of 2000. Kazantsev will replace as commander of the Russian contingent in Kosovo Lieutenant-General Valery Yevtukhovich whose term of service in Kosovo expired.

It was noted in the Russian Defence Ministry that around 3,000 Russian peacekeepers serve in the multinational peacekeeping forces in Kosovo (KFOR).

Les 189 membres de l'Assemblée générale de l'organisation pourraient entériner dès cet après-midi le retour du pays après 8 ans d'absence. Mardi, le Conseil de sécurité avait approuvé la demande effectuée par le nouveau président yougoslave, Vojislav Kostunica.

API

NATIONS UNIES, 31 octobre - Bien qu'elle ait été l'un des fondateurs des Nations Unies en 1945, la Yougoslavie avait basculé depuis 1992 dans une sorte de trou noir diplomatique. Après les déclarations d'indépendance de la Slovénie, de la Croatie, de la Bosnie et de la Macédoine, anciennes composantes de la république socialiste fédérale de Tito, le pays s'est en effet réduit à la Serbie et au Monténégro.

L'Assemblée générale des Nations unies avait estimé que cette nouvelle Yougoslavie ne pouvait prétendre seule à la succession de l'ancienne. Pour réintégrer l'Onu, la Yougoslavie devait donc présenter sa candidature, à l'instar des républiques ex-yougoslaves, ce à quoi s'était toujours refusé le régime de l'ex-président yougoslave Slobodan Milosevic. La Croatie a salué le retour annoncé de la Yougoslavie aux Nations Unies, et souhaité que cela conduise à une normalisation les relations entre les deux pays naguère ennemis.

(Avec Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 1, 2000 -- (Reuters) The Security Council recommended to the General Assembly on Tuesday that it admit Yugoslavia as a member of the United Nations, bringing Belgrade in from the diplomatic cold after eight years.

The council, acting without a vote, endorsed a recommendation made earlier by its committee on the admission of new members. The Assembly is expected to welcome Yugoslavia as a UN member as early as Wednesday.

The new government of President Vojislav Kostunica, who recently replaced strongman Slobodan Milosevic, applied for UN membership for his country in a letter last Friday to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Although Belgrade was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945, it has been in limbo since 1992, following the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia from the old Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

This left only the republics of Serbia and Montenegro in the rump Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The General Assembly ruled in September 1992 that Belgrade "cannot continue automatically the membership of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia".

It said the government should apply for membership, just as the other former Yugoslav republics did, and that meanwhile "it shall not participate in the work of the General Assembly."

The UN legal counsel nonetheless ruled that this did not amount to terminating or suspending Yugoslavia's membership in the United Nations.

The Yugoslav seat and nameplate remained as before, although representatives of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia could not sit behind the "Yugoslavia" sign in the General Assembly or its related bodies.

The flag of the defunct Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with its big red star, continued to fly outside UN headquarters, since it was the last Yugoslav flag used by the UN secretariat.

After the Security Council adopted its admission resolution, council president Martin Andjaba of Namibia read a statement extending members' "congratulations to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on this historic occasion."

"We look forward to the day in the near future when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will join us as a member of the United Nations and to working closely with its representatives," Andjaba said.

American UN envoy Richard Holbrooke, who has long been involved in Balkan affairs and was the architect of the 1995 Dayton accords ending the conflict in Bosnia, told reporters: "This is a great day for democracy in the Balkans, in Europe, and a great day for the United Nations."

"Eight years of sterile, stupid argument over Yugoslav membership in the United Nations is over," he added.

British ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock, also speaking to reporters, said Kostunica "has been extremely wise in presenting an immediate new application for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia."

Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey of Bosnia, saying he believed he was speaking on behalf of the envoys of all the other former Yugoslav republics, said this was "a momentous occasion and a good occasion."

"It resolves at least one outstanding thorn between all of us," he said, alluding to problems stemming from Belgrade's refusal until to now to regard itself as one of five Yugoslav successor states rather than as the continuation of the old Yugoslavia.

Croatian UN envoy Ivan Simonovic said: "We consider this as a victory of the principle of equality of all five successor states."

MOSCOW, Nov 1, 2000 -- (Reuters) Russia criticized the United Nations on Tuesday for holding a municipal election in Kosovo, saying the poll on Saturday threatened to legitimize "ethnic cleansing" by Albanians in the Yugoslav province.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that UN and European officials had refused to heed calls from Moscow and the new Yugoslav leadership to postpone the vote to win the participation of 75,000 minority Serbs who boycotted the poll.

"There is a real threat the municipal election held by UN administrators will de facto legitimize ethnic cleansing carried out by Albanian extremists after an international civilian and military presence was established in the province," it said.

More than 100,000 Serbs fled Kosovo in fear of reprisal after an 11-week NATO air campaign to drive Serbian forces out of the province in 1999, ending a crackdown in which at least 2,000 members of the ethnic Albanian majority had been killed.

The remaining Serbs are isolated in NATO-protected pockets.

The ministry said other ethnic minorities in Kosovo also stayed away from the poll.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Monday that the election appeared free and fair. UN administration chief Bernard Kouchner called the poll a victory for moderation and maturity.

But Russia's statement said the election campaign in Kosovo had moved away from municipal matters and focused on the issue of the province's full independence from Yugoslavia.

Preliminary results show that the Democratic Party of Kosovo, led by moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova who preaches speedy formal break-off from Belgrade, won the vote by a comfortable majority.

Saturday's municipal elections were the precursor to elections next year for a parliament expected to be endowed with powers to negotiate Kosovo's final status with Belgrade and major powers in the UN Security Council.

Moscow stood by its Slav, Orthodox Christian brethren during NATO's 11-week 1999 air campaign but later contributed to a deal between Belgrade and the West.

Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov helped negotiate a peaceful transfer of power in Belgrade to Vojislav Kostunica who defeated Slobodan Milosevic in a presidential election last month.

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Ethnic Albanian moderates will take the helm for the launch of democracy in Kosovo, but the road to racial co-existence will be hard as long as speaking the wrong language out loud can get you killed.

Elections for municipal councils last week yielded thumping victories for the largest Kosovo Albanian mainstream party over radical guerrilla war veterans -- a relief for the province's U.N. authorities who have parliamentary polls in view.

Minority Serb leaders and the Yugoslav government, which once ran Kosovo with an iron fist, welcomed the result given Albanian moderate leader Ibrahim Rugova's public commitment to conciliation and cooperation with minorities.

But ordinary Albanians and Serbs live in two estranged worlds that overlap only when peace supervisors corral local leaders in NATO-guarded U.N. compounds to defuse an ethnic incident or revisit grievances that defy compromise.

Since NATO waged an 11-week air campaign to drive Serbian forces out of Kosovo in mid-1999, you risk your life here by speaking Serbian in public outside the scattered Serb enclaves.

SHOT FOR SPEAKING SERBIAN

A Bulgarian U.N. staffer was shot dead on a main street in Pristina last year after he was asked for the time and replied in Serbian. A Serb translator for the U.N. was murdered last spring after being recognised by former Albanian neighbours.

The 250 Serbs hanging on in Pristina after the post-war flight of 40,000 others have British NATO troops billeted round the clock in the ground floor of their apartment block.

Days before the elections, it was hit by an anti-tank missile fired by Albanian radicals, who escaped. No casualties occurred only because the rocket missed a row of windows.

Talk to any of the more than one million ethnic Albanians who were shelled or burned out of their homes by Belgrade's anti-guerrilla legions, who killed thousands of civilians too, and most will insist Serbs have no right to live among them.

``There is no way we can live together with Serbs again in Kosovo after what they did,'' Hafiz Mustafa, 59, said on election eve in Racak, tearfully holding up the identity card of a son killed in a notorious massacre of 40 villagers nearby.

The disarming words that ethnic Albanian and Serb leaders utter in public are meant for Kosovo's international tutors in democracy rather than their respective constituents, whose visions of the future remain diametrically opposed.

Ethnic Albanians jubilantly trooped to the polls on October 28, seeing them as a launching pad to inevitable statehood, even though the U.N. mandate stipulates only ``substantial autonomy.''

People voted for Rugova's party not because he vowed cooperation with minorities but because he called for ethnic Albanians to be ``masters in their own house'' as fervently as his most radical nationalist rivals did, diplomats say.

SERBS LIVE AS IF ON ANOTHER PLANET

Seventy-five thousand minority Serbs boycotted the vote out of protest at their isolation in NATO-shielded ghettos, but also because they believe any legitimate election must reaffirm Kosovo as part of Serbia, Yugoslavia's main republic.

They count on new democratic Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica to reassert Belgrade's presence by demanding to include Kosovo in Serbia's December 23 elections.

What Kosovo's U.N. administrator Bernard Kouchner decides to do will be the province's most burning question in coming weeks. If he agrees, however, ethnic Albanians will certainly boycott the vote, and may try to thwart it with violence.

For them, Kosovo is a new state in all but name.

In most of Kosovo, red-and-black Albanian flags wave, the Serb parts of bilingual road signs have been erased, the German mark is legal tender, and cars sport Kosovo number plates.

Ethnic Albanian areas boom with small trade and post-war residential construction. No week goes by without a new petrol station opening for business on traffic-clogged roads.

On the highway west of Pristina, ethnic Albanians are unveiling a smart Italianate hotel named the Aviano, in honour of the air base in northeast Italy from which NATO launched the air strikes that drove the Serbian forces out.

In enclaves behind NATO sandbags, Serbs fly the tricolour Yugoslav flag, use Yugoslavia's dinar currency, read Belgrade newspapers, and drive cars with faded, battered Yugoslav plates. Hardly anyone works. Brooding and decay pervade the air.

The Serbs seethe with resentment at their loss of supremacy and the international authorities' alleged pro-Albanian bias.

``We struggle to survive while Albanians are a huge mafia. There are two nations here with nothing in common, only confrontation. We want only our own country and own president,'' said Slavisa Nikolic, a Serb cigarette vendor.

BELGRADE, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Members of Montenegro's parliament voted on Wednesday to set up a central bank for the coastal republic, pushing it further away from Serbia, its partner in the Yugoslav federation.

Thirty-seven deputies voted in favour of the bill, drafted by Montenegro's government last summer, and seven abstained.

Most opposition deputies were not present in the chamber and could raise objections to the law as it was not passed by an absolute majority of all memebrs of the parliament. The assembly has 78 seats.

Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Ljubisa Krgovic told parliament on Tuesday that the new central bank law would create a basis for a comprehensive reform of the financial system.

Belgrade, 1 November 2000 (RFE/RL) - Top officials from Serbia's three main political parties are set to meet today in Belgrade to try to defuse a dispute that is threatening the newly formed transitional government. Two of the parties are threatening to quit the government if the Socialist Party of ousted President Slobodan Milosevic does not fire Rade Markovic, Serbia's secret police chief.

The parties are President Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Opposition of Serbia and the Serbian Renewal movement. Officials from the parties walked out of a meeting of the government last night after the Socialists refused to dismiss Markovic.

The deputy premiers from the two parties said they will not resume their work until Markovic is out of office and the government can function normally.

Leaders from both parties have accused state security services of involvement in politically motivated kidnappings and killings under Milosevic. Markovic has denied the accusations.

Socialist Prime Minister Milomir Minic says Markovic's removal is out of the question because it is not part of the formal power-sharing deal which formed the government.