US troops in Kosovo ready to respond to violence
US is ready to respond to violence in Kosovo, "a place where the United States has an opportunity to stop the spread of terrorism," says Army Brig. Gen. Darren Owens, the US commander in Kosovo
November 16, 2006 (SERBIANNA)
American troops deployed in Kosovo are ready to respond to violence that is nearly certain to erupt once the final status of this Serbian province is determined by the international Contact Group, assesses US commander of the Kosovo Force's Multinational Task Force, Army Brig. Gen. Darren Owens. Owens told the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that, regardless of the outcome, one side will be unhappy and violence is likely.
"We're approaching an important moment politically that will affect the future of Kosovo," said Gen. James Jones, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO's supreme allied commander. "We'll have to see what that is and what the decision is, and we'll also wait and see how the Kosovars accept the will of the international community."
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians are referred to as Kosovars.
"What we're facing here are 180-degree opposing viewpoints," Army Lt. Col. Steve Johnston from the task force's intelligence section. "There's calm, but tensions are rising about issues surrounding the final status."
The intelligence unit also assesses that the delay in reaching an agreement could spark new violence. Owens reminded Pace of anti-Serb riots that erupted when talks were delayed in 2004.
Kosovo Force's Multinational Task Force is made up of 2,600 US, Greek, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Armenian and Lithuanian troops, is part of the 16,000-member Kosovo Force.
Kosovo Force's Multinational Task Force is also worried about spread of Islamic terrorism.
"This is a place where the United States has an opportunity to stop the spread of terrorism," Owens said. "People here have been killing each other for years, and our presence here demonstrates that the world won't stand by and let that happen, while showing the importance of our basic values of treating people with dignity and respect."
Since 1999 when the UN introduced self-rule to Kosovo Albanians, over 200,000 Serbs have been ethnically cleansed from the province while over 150 churches have been destroyed in a Muslim drive to religiously cleanse the province of its vast Christian heritage.
No quick reduction of Kosovo troop levels
NATO Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:01 AM ET
By Matt Robinson
PRILUZJE, Serbia (Reuters) - NATO will likely keep troop levels in Kosovo unchanged at around 17,000 for six months after a U.N. decision on the future of the province, the top commander in the territory said on Friday.
A decision on the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority's demand for independence from Serbia is expected early next year, and could spark fresh ethnic violence.
Lieutenant-General Roland Kather of Germany said Kosovo, run by the United Nations since NATO's 1999 air war to halt the ethnic cleansing of Albanians, was entering "crucial times".
"We are in the final stages of the status talks and I'm absolutely sure we will have the final decision by early next year," Kather told Reuters in the muddy Serb enclave of Priluzje in central Kosovo.
"I'm absolutely sure we will maintain strength, organization and in particular manpower at least six months after a U.N. resolution," he said.
"I think within the next year there will be no change at all."
He spoke after a French Puma helicopter dropped five parachutists of the French airborne pathfinders squad from 12,000 feet, landing on the muddy local football pitch. Kather said it was a display of resolve.
DEADLINE SLIPPED
NATO commands around 17,000 troops from more than 30 nations in Kosovo.
Sixty thousand soldiers entered Kosovo in 1999, after an 11-week NATO bombing campaign to drive out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing and atrocities in a two-year war with guerrillas.
Seven years later, U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari says he will submit his proposal on Kosovo's future after a Serbian parliamentary election on January 21. An initial year-end deadline has slipped to assuage Western powers worried a decision now might tip the polls in favor of popular ultranationalists.
Diplomats say Ahtisaari's blueprint, drafted after eight months of almost fruitless Serb-Albanian talks, will open the door to independence, but the fallout in Belgrade and among Kosovo's 100,000 remaining Serbs is less certain.
Some analysts fear a bid by the mainly Serb north to split the province in two could provoke an Albanian backlash against isolated Serb enclaves south of the Ibar River.
The NATO force, KFOR, was caught out in 2004 when Albanian rioters overran Serb enclaves, torching homes and churches. Nineteen people died and 4,000 fled their homes.
Stung by criticism, KFOR has overhauled its command and control structure, and provides riot-control training. But its performance in the 2004 riots dented the confidence of Serbs.
"We want to show the people that KFOR is not just hiding in camps," said Kather. "We want to show them our capabilities."
ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (ITALY)
Rome, 17 Nov. (AKI) - Italy's foreign minister Massimo D'Alema has said he supports in broad terms the solution that is being proposed for the final status of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province. Speaking after a meeting in Rome with chief UN negotiator for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, D'Alema said that dialogue was in general terms "heading towards a form of independence with some limitations and with international guarantees." Eight rounds of UN-brokered talks on Kosovo yielded no results and Ahtisaari is expected to make a status proposal to the Security Council in the end of January.
"We appreciate above all the decision to postpone the presentation of the plan until after the elections in Serbia [scheduled for January]" he said, "also to have as an interlocutor a new government legitimised by a popular vote and also to avoid interference in the Serbian electoral campaign."
"This goes towards the aspiration of the overwhelming majority of the kosovar population" said D'Alema, at the same time "we have highlighted the need for full guarantees and protections for the Serb minority and the religious sites which have great importance for the whole Orthodox community."
D'Alema also repeated that the military and civilian commitments they have made to the area will be maintained "as long as neccessary."
The foreign minister said that at the same time they wanted to give a positive message to Serbia, "a country that is fundamental for the Balkans."
"The future of Serbia and of other western Balkans countries is within the European Union" he emphasised.
For his part, Ahtisaari confirmed that the plan for the final status of Kosovo will be handed over "without delay after the Serbian elections."
Belgrade opposes independence of Kosovo, though it has no more authority there since 1999, when NATO bombing pushed Serbian forces out of the province, following an ethnic Albanian rebellion and mass exodus from the province.
Kostunica: Independence is violence
17 November 2006 | 18:11 | Source: Beta
BELGRADE -- The Serbian PM says he does not believe Kosovo solution will be reached through unilateral recognition of independence.
"That would be an example of legal violence and a double breach of international laws' basic principles. On the one hand, this would be in contravention to the UN Charter and Resolution 1244, and on the other, no such decision can be reach without the participation of the UN Security Council", Vojislav Kostunica told Beta news agency.
According to the Serbian prime minister, circumventing the UN would not go without consequences for the states that engage in such behavior.
"This is especially true of NATO member states as it would shed a new light on the so-called humanitarian intervention of 1999. In that case, a connection could be seen between the bombardment then and the snatch of Serbian territory seven years later. In that case, there is no doubt nothing could remain the same in the relations between those countries and Serbia", Kostunica said.
