----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 4:48 AM Subject: [STOPNATO] Annan: Despite unfortunate genocide Kosovo economy "remarkably vibrant" STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM By Anthony Goodman UNITED NATIONS, June 8 (Reuters) - The security situation in U.N.-administered Kosovo, Serbia's mainly ethnic Albanian province, has deteriorated in recent weeks, with an apparently orchestrated campaign of anti-Serb attacks, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday. ``Local leaders and the people of Kosovo have made some encouraging efforts to create a society in which all people can live without fear,'' he said in a report to the Security Council. ``But understanding and tolerance in Kosovo remain scarce and reconciliation is far from a reality.'' ``An upsurge of vicious attacks on Kosovo Serbs in several areas has undermined Kosovo Serb confidence in the future. ``These attacks appears to be part of an orchestrated campaign,'' he said, adding that ``the international community did not intervene in Kosovo to make it a haven for revenge and crime.'' Annan was reporting on developments over the past three months in Kosovo, which the United Nations has been administering for the past year, backed by the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR). The Security Council authorised the U.N. Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and KFOR to enter the province last June. That followed an 11-week NATO air campaign to force Belgrade to stop repressing the ethnic Albanians, to withdraw its troops and permit the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees who had fled. The secretary-general's special representative for Kosovo and head of UNMIK, former French health minister Bernard Kouchner, was to give the council an oral briefing on Friday. Annan said that ``while much has been done, much remains to be done.'' ``Regrettably, some aspects of Kosovo society have not changed. Kosovo Serbs and other minority communities continue to be murdered, attacked and threatened. UNMIK staff members have also been murdered by extremists motivated by ethnic hatred,'' he wrote. Annan said the leaders and residents of Kosovo ``must play their part in meeting their obligations and responsibilities'' to make the province an area where all may live in security. He called Kosovo's economy ``remarkably vibrant,'' with 70 per cent of private enterprises now restarted, and producing and employing more than in 1998. Winter wheat planting was at 80 per cent of the historical average and the construction sector was booming, he added. ``However, unemployment remains at around 50 per cent,'' and much remained to be done to establish the institutional and legal framework to encourage enterprise development. Thanks to substantial help from donors, especially from the European Union, essential services such as electricity and water had been maintained, despite very difficult circumstances. Annan said an essential element in creating long-term stability in Kosovo was the increasing inclusion of its people in the administration of the province. He cited UNMIK's formation of the Kosovo Police Service and the establishment of various advisory and administrative bodies. Municipal elections, scheduled for October, were the next step, he said, with an estimated 1.2 million potential applicants for the first phase of civil and voter registration. ``Democracy in Kosovo must begin to take root, but given Kosovo's troubled history, institutionalizing the sharing of administrative and political responsibility between the ethnic communities concerned will not be quick or easy,'' he said. 20:36 06-08-00 ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
