BELGRADE, Dec 16 (AFP) - A return of displaced Serbs and non-Albanians to UN-administered Kosovo is of utmost importance if the situation in the province is to get back to normal, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica told a visiting UN Security Council delegation Monday.
"Only about 100 of more than 200,000 displaced people have so far returned" to the province, administered since 1999 by the United Nations, Tanjug news agency quoted a statement from Kostunica's office as saying.
More than 200,000 Serbs and non-Albanians fled Kosovo in 1999 for other parts of Serbia or neighbouring Montenegro, fearing revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians after Belgrade's troops pulled out following a NATO air campaign.
The strikes were aimed at ending a crackdown by then hardline leader Slobodan Milosevic on ethnic Albanians.
The Serbs complain that both the United Nations and NATO peacekeepers have failed to protect their communities from ethnic Albanian reprisals or create the security conditions necessary for the return of refugees.
Kostunica said that "more efforts should be made to create conditions for a return of displaced people," as well as "to establish highly-needed security and protection of human rights of all citizens of Kosovo," Tanjug reported.
The 15 UN Security Council delegates began their visit to the region with a three-day fact-finding mission to Kosovo.
Earlier Monday, Ole Peter Kolby, Norway's UN ambassador heading the delegation, told reporters that "the security situation has improved significantly" in Kosovo.
"We are very much impressed by the work of (the UN mission in Kosovo) UNMIK and (NATO-led peacekeepers) KFOR as well as the dedication shown by the local political leaders. It is very important that this work continues," Kolby said.
In Belgrade, the Security Council delegates will also meet with Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and a number of other officials, before returning to New York on Tuesday.
an-nq/gk Yugo-Kosovo-UN AFP
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