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Kostunica Urges Peaceful Solution to Kosovo Problem
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica November 27 called for a peaceful solution to the deteriorating situation in southern Serbia.
During a visit to the tiny community of Buganovac, Kostunica pointed out that Albanian terrorists and separatists had provoked the crisis in an attempt to block the Kosovo peace process through violent means.
Clashes erupted last Tuesday when ethnic Albanian extremists seized key positions just across the boundary from the NATO- patrolled Kosovo province, and killed at least four Serb policemen.
The Kostunica government reacted strongly to the incidents afterwards. In his letter to NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, Kostunica demanded NATO peacekeepers do more to stop rebel incursions from the Kosovo province under terms of No. 1244 Agreement signed between NATO and the Milosevic government in June 1999.
Yugoslav Interior Ministry last Friday gave NATO 72 hours to crack down on ethnic Albanian militants in the buffer zone. This meant the deadline would expire at 7 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) on Monday; otherwise Yugoslav authorities would launch counterattacks to clear the rebels.
The ethnic Albanians have proclaimed an unilateral 48-hour cease-fire, which expires Sunday night.
But Serbian deputy prime minister Nebojsa Covic said Serbian security forces have been armed and deployed to prevent further loss of territory.
He also said the deadline was extended indefinitely after the NATO-led Kosovo Force "demanded that we not use the language of deadlines and ultimatums, but that of diplomacy and agreements."
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