One person wounded in Pristina explosion

Pristina, BETA News Agency, 13 March - One person was wounded at about 9:40 p.m. this evening in an explosion that occurred in downtown Pristina, Kosovo Police Service spokesman Refki Morina told Beta.

Morina was unable to advise of the identity of the wounded person but said that the person (she) was out of life-threatening danger and has been transferred to the Pristina Clinical Hospital Center.

He said that an explosive device was activated between UNMIK headquarters and the Kosovo Banking and Payment (the former SDK).

The detonation could be even be heard in remote sections of the city, and police have sealed off access to the location where the incident occurred.

Members of UNMIK police, the KPS and Kfor are conducting an on-the-scene investigation, added Morina.

Belgrade Media Update Feb 12

UNMIK Media Monitoring Report

Solana in Kosovo Next Tuesday (Tanjug)

Javier Solana will visit Kosovo on 15 March, it has been announced in Brussels. Solana’s visit will offer an opportunity for discussing the recent developments in Kosovo with representatives of the local provisional authorities, reads a statement issued by Solana’s office

Kostunica Meets Stam (RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in a meeting with the International Committee of the Red Cross’ (ICRC) Head of operations for North America and Western, Central, and Southeast Europe Francois Stam that the Serbian Government and the CCK will continue to provide all necessary assistance in resolving the cases of missing persons in the province. Kostunica stressed that the issue is of utmost importance both for the families of the missing and for establishing the truth about incidents in the province. Kostunica said that the Government, in cooperation with the Serbian Red Cross and the Serbia-Montenegrin Red Cross, would provide as much aid as possible to internally displaced persons in Kosovo. He stressed that a true help would be the return of the expelled to their homes, but for that to happen many other conditions need to be met, such as ensuring freedom of movement, reconstruction of houses, and providing new jobs. Stam, who is also Chairman of the Working Group on Missing Persons in Kosovo, said that the biggest problem was insufficient protection of the Serb and non-Albanian population in Kosovo. He underlined that the task and obligation of not only the International Committee of the Red Cross, but the international community as a whole, is to secure conditions for the return of internally displaced persons to their homes. The meeting also focused on ICRC activities and the announce resumption of dialogue of the Working Group for Missing Persons, which will hold a meeting in March, reads a statement issued by the Serbian Government Office for Cooperation with Media.

Salihaj Offers Dialogue to Belgrade (B92)

The Working Group for Missing Persons will meet on March 16 in Belgrade. Acting Kosovo Prime Minister Adem Saljihaj said that the Kosovo Government would offer dialogue to Belgrade on the same grounds, as did former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.  “We are prepared to discuss any issues which are unresolved between us,” he said. The meeting of Belgrade and Pristina representatives had been originally called for March 10, but was postponed at the Kosovo Government request, due to the departure of the former PM for The Hague.

Kosovo Serbs To Launch Petition for Jessen-Petersen’s Dismissal (B92)

Kosovo Serb representatives will begin collecting signatures for a petition for the dismissal of SRSG Sřren Jessen-Petersen. President of the Serbian National Council of Central Kosovo, Dragan Velic, explained that reasons for launching the petition are the catastrophic conditions and overall horrible situation for the Serb population in Kosovo, for which Jessen-Petersen is largely to be blamed. Velic expects that about 100,000 Serbs will sign the petition, which includes those in Kosovo as well as IDPs who are currently living out of the province.

Scheffer Hints ‘Conditional Independence’ (Beta)

Serbian Government officials and Kosovo Serb leaders say that they are ready to begin direct dialogue with Albanian officials in Pristina. At a debate in Berlin, organized by the Society for Southeastern Europe, the Political Director in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mihael Scheffer, said that four solutions need to be rejected before discussions on the future status of Kosovo could begin: “a return to the situation as it was before 1999, a fast-track and unconditional independence of Kosovo, its division of Kosovo and its annexation by some other country.” Experts for the Balkans in Berlin point out that the most important aspect of Scheffer's recommendations is the second condition, since in these circles a “conditional independence” has already been discussed as an option for Kosovo that could be supported by the international community. Scheffer has called upon the Kosovo Serbs to join the provisional institutions in Kosovo and advised officials in Belgrade, “whose clear and legitimate interests in Kosovo need to be respected,” to show a readiness for a dialogue with Pristina. Serbian Prime Minister Kostunica’s Political Advisor Slobodan Samardzic, dismissed the independence as a viable option for Kosovo. At the same time, he said that “Belgrade is ready to directly talk about everything with Pristina, including demands for independence.”