U.S. Disappointed at Kosovo Albanian Rebels

The U.S. State Department Tuesday expressed its great disappointment that Kosovo Albanian rebels have failed to live up to a commitment on March 23 to end an insurgency in southern Serbia.

"That greatly disappoints us," State Department spokesman James Foley told a regular briefing.

The Kosovo Albanian groups agreed "freely" on March 23 to end its insurgency in southern Serbia, Foley said. "We are indeed disappointed in the failure of these parties to live up to those commitments."

Foley made the remarks to respond to a report by The Washington Post Tuesday that remnants of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) seem determined to continue a challenge to Serb security forces in the Presevo Valley, a predominantly ethnic Albanian region in southern Serbia.

"We continue to stress to the Albanian leadership in Kosovo that we are serious about the messages of zero tolerance for violence and extremism," he added.

The spokesman also said that the peacekeeping forces in Kosovo, or KFOR, "has backed up these messages with appropriate concrete action and remains capable of doing so as necessary in the future. "

"We continue to call on all parties to act responsibly and to refrain from any actions that might provoke violence and instability in the region," he added.

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