REUTERS
NATO plays down threat of Kosovo armed group
18 Oct 2005 16:59:28 GMT
Source: Reuters
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, Oct 18 (Reuters) - NATO acknowledged on
Tuesday the presence of an armed group in western Kosovo stopping and
searching cars at night but dismissed reports of a new rebel army in the
province.
The U.N. mission in charge of Serbia's disputed province has told staff to
avoid travelling at night in U.N.-marked cars in the western Decani region
after recent media reports of checkpoints manned by armed, masked men.
But an official from the 17,100-strong NATO-led peace force stationed there
said the men were little more than bandits stealing from passing cars.
"These are criminals. They are not organised as far as we know and we don't
recognise them as an organisation," he told Reuters on condition of
anonymity.
"We take it seriously, but as far as we are concerned these are criminals
... who are doing it for their own business."
Calling itself "The Army for the Independence of Kosovo", local newspapers
say the group had threatened U.N. officials and was demanding immediate
recognition of independence for the majority Albanian province.
U.N. facilities and parked U.N. cars have become the targets of sporadic
bomb attacks over the past six months, blamed on extremists trying to warn
against delaying talks on Kosovo's future, expected to begin in November.
Illegal checkpoints and ominous communiques were the early hallmarks of the
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which emerged in 1998 to launch a guerrilla
war against Serb forces.
An 11-week NATO bombing campaign in 1999 drove out forces under former Serb
strongman Slobodan Milosevic, accused of killing 10,000 Albanian civilians
as they fought the KLA.
Under U.N. control since, the 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority is
impatient for independence, something Serbia says is impossible.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to endorse the start of "final status"
talks at a session on Oct. 24. Diplomats say Western powers will steer them
towards a form of "conditional independence" under continued international
supervision.
18 Oct 2005 16:59:28 GMT
Source: Reuters
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, Oct 18 (Reuters) - NATO acknowledged on
Tuesday the presence of an armed group in western Kosovo stopping and
searching cars at night but dismissed reports of a new rebel army in the
province.
The U.N. mission in charge of Serbia's disputed province has told staff to
avoid travelling at night in U.N.-marked cars in the western Decani region
after recent media reports of checkpoints manned by armed, masked men.
But an official from the 17,100-strong NATO-led peace force stationed there
said the men were little more than bandits stealing from passing cars.
"These are criminals. They are not organised as far as we know and we don't
recognise them as an organisation," he told Reuters on condition of
anonymity.
"We take it seriously, but as far as we are concerned these are criminals
... who are doing it for their own business."
Calling itself "The Army for the Independence of Kosovo", local newspapers
say the group had threatened U.N. officials and was demanding immediate
recognition of independence for the majority Albanian province.
U.N. facilities and parked U.N. cars have become the targets of sporadic
bomb attacks over the past six months, blamed on extremists trying to warn
against delaying talks on Kosovo's future, expected to begin in November.
Illegal checkpoints and ominous communiques were the early hallmarks of the
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which emerged in 1998 to launch a guerrilla
war against Serb forces.
An 11-week NATO bombing campaign in 1999 drove out forces under former Serb
strongman Slobodan Milosevic, accused of killing 10,000 Albanian civilians
as they fought the KLA.
Under U.N. control since, the 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority is
impatient for independence, something Serbia says is impossible.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to endorse the start of "final status"
talks at a session on Oct. 24. Diplomats say Western powers will steer them
towards a form of "conditional independence" under continued international
supervision.
