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U.N. Urged to End Mandate, Withdraw KFOR From Kosovo
The Yugoslav government Wednesday called on the U.N. Security Council to immediately end its special peace-keeping mandate and mission in Kosovo and to allow the return of Yugoslav troops to the troubled province in southwestern Yugoslavia.
In a statement, the government lashed out at the U.N. mission and the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force for "failing to implement the U.N. resolution 1244 and tolerating ethnic Albanian extremists. "
It also demanded the Security Council take all necessary steps as soon as possible to ensure the thorough implementation of resolution 1244.
Since their deployment in Kosovo a year ago, the U.N. mission and the KFOR have not only failed to earnestly carry out resolution 1244, but also taken a tolerant stance toward the ethnic Albanian extremists, which has led to an escalation of terrorist activities in Kosovo, the statement said.
During the past year, it added, Albanian extremists launched more than 5,000 terrorist attacks, leaving over 1,000 civilians dead, 940 people abducted, and some 360,000 non-Albanian residents displaced.
The extremists also burned more than 50,000 civilian houses and severely damaged 86 churches built in the Middle Ages and other precious historical sites.
Meanwhile, the statement said, Kosovo has become a vital base for drug-smuggling, arms-trafficking and money-laundering for organized international criminal rings after some 250,000 ethnic Albanians illegally entered the province from Albania and Macedonia.
To guarantee the complete implementation of the U.N. resolution, the Yugoslav government said, the Security Council should immediately end the mandate of the special mission and withdraw KFOR from Kosovo as soon as possible.
In the meantime, it added, the council should allow Yugoslavia to rush its troops and police force back to Kosovo to guard its internationally-recognized borders and restore social order in the province.
The mostly-Albanian Kosovo has been under the administration of the U.N. mission since KFOR entered the area in June 1999, following the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from it.
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