STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ...since the United Nations administration assumed control of Kosovo, more than 250,000 Serbs have been expelled, 1,300 killed and another 1,300 abducted. Thursday May 31 8:48 AM ET Kosovo Serbs Urge West to Defend Their Rights By Richard Murphy VIENNA (Reuters) - A leader of Kosovo's minority Serbs called on the international community on Thursday to provide additional guarantees for Serbs as the province prepares to hold elections in November. ``The process of killings and ethnic cleansing of Serbs has not stopped,�� Rada Trajkovic, a Serb member of Kosovo�s multi-ethnic interim administrative council, said in Vienna. Speaking after she and Kosovo Albanian leaders addressed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), she said Serbs were unhappy with an international blueprint for self-governing institutions in Kosovo unveiled this month. Nevertheless, they would take part in the voter registration process ahead of the November 17 election. ``We shall cooperate even before our conditions are fulfilled and then subsequently decide whether to participate in the elections,�� Trajkovic told a news conference. Kosovo, whose ethnic Albanian majority favors independence from Yugoslavia, was placed under U.N. administration in June 1999 after NATO bombing to end Serb repression of Albanians. U.N. governor Hans Haekkerup this month set November 17 as the date for elections to a 120-seat provincial assembly. Trajkovic said the proposals were in effect a basis for future independence for Kosovo and they contained no provisions for the province's relationship with Belgrade. Amendments proposed by Serbian politicians had either not been accepted or had been substantially re-worded, but the proposals still had the backing of international organizations responsible for administering the Yugoslav province. ``We appeal to these institutions to offer additional guarantees for the Serb community,�� Drajkovic said. ``The minority have got to have their rights guaranteed.�� She said that since the United Nations administration assumed control of Kosovo, more than 250,000 Serbs had been expelled, 1,300 killed and another 1,300 abducted. ``This is why we request security, the return of those who wish to return�� and information on the fate of abducted Serbs. Trajkovic said Serbs were discriminated against by Albanian-controlled local authorities. ``Access to the institutions for Serbs is almost non-existent except in armored vehicles.�� Ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova said he hoped Serbs would take part in the elections, which he described as a further step toward a ``free and democratic Kosovo.�� ``We will do everything for the Serbian community to have freedom of movement, especially in their enclaves,�� Rugova, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, said. Making clear that his ultimate goal remained independence, he said he looked forward to Kosovo becoming a member of the OSCE, a security and human rights watchdog which now has 55 member states, as soon as possible. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
