[PEN-L:7804] (Fwd) NOTHING BUT INDEPENDENCE WILL DO, GUERRILLA ARMY INSISTS

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Date sent:              Mon, 07 Jun 1999 10:46:39 -0700
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From:                   Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:                NOTHING BUT INDEPENDENCE WILL DO, GUERRILLA ARMY INSISTS -
        Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph                                     Wednesday 14 October 1998

NOTHING BUT INDEPENDENCE WILL DO, GUERRILLA ARMY INSISTS

        By Julius Strauss and Juliette Terzieff in Pristina 

        The Kosovo Liberation Army rejected the proposed peace deal 
yesterday, saying that any solution for the province other than full 
independence was not acceptable. The KLA spokesman, Bardyhl 
Mahmuti, said: "We cannot live with Serbia,".
        The American envoy, Richard Holbrooke, has sidelined the KLA from 
his peace talks with President Slobodan Milosevic while holding only brief 
talks with the moderate ethnic Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova.
        But the KLA did offer a ray of hope for compromise yesterday, 
suggesting that a form of phased independence might be acceptable. 
Mr Mahmuti said: "We agree to a three-year transition period that 
would lead to self-determination. If Milosevic accepts this, that would 
be satisfactory to the KLA."
        Yesterday on the streets of the Kosovan capital, Pristina, many ethnic 
Albanians said history had taught them that Mr Milosevic was not to be 
trusted. Valon Mehoni, manager of a grocery shop where worried 
customers continued to crowd in to stock up on food, said: "He's just 
faking. He's never kept his promises before so there's no reason he should 
do it now." There was no more flour, oil or sugar, and only two bags of 
rice.
        One elderly woman said: "I don't believe a word that man [Milosevic] 
says. He is a liar. I'm going to keep buying."
        Mr Rugova, a pacifist and head of the Democratic League of Kosovo, 
did not comment on the plan yesterday. It was not clear if he had been 
consulted before Mr Holbrooke and Mr Milosevic announced the deal.
        Dukagjin Gorani, the assistant editor of the Albanian-language daily 
Koha Ditore, suggested that Mr Rugova's life might be at risk if he signed 
the peadce deal. He said: "Rugova is Holbrooke's prisoner and he will 
have to rule through Milosevic. Once he signs the deal he will be at risk, I 
suspect."
        A summer of violent Serbian offensives has meant that almost all 
ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have become more radical and now 
sympathise with the KLA. Young men have been swelling its ranks, so 
that, although the KLA has suffered a string of defeats at the hands of 
the Yugoslav army and Serbian special police, it is not short of 
manpower. If a Serbian stranglehold on its arms supply routes is 
lifted it could pose a real threat again. Journalists were surprised this 
week to see guerrillas immaculately dressed, with new automatic 
weapons and four-wheel-drive vehicles.
        Mr Milosevic is opposed to the idea of a phased transition to 
independence and will probably be looking for Mr Holbrooke to bring the 
Albanians into line. But diplomats admit that with Albanians 
outnumbering Serbs in Kosovo by nine to one - and with a higher birth 
rate - the province will be effectively independent within a decade. 
        Kosovars expect the peace deal to provide only a temporary solution, 
until new political imperatives force a solution. "I think it's over," said 
Enver Berisha yesterday as he sat drinking in a cafe. "Milosevic will 
comply and we'll wait for three years to push for real independence."
        His cheeriness was echoed by Serb policemen. "I just heard the news 
on the radio," said one. "None of us wanted to fight Nato. None of us 
wanted to fight at all."