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Information Service November 14 , 2002
DIOCESE OF RASKA AND PRIZREN SEEKS PROTECTION OF RIGHT TO USE CYRILLIC SCRIPT IN PUBLIC LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION Since the
arrival of UNMIK in 1999 Cyrillic script has been almost completely
eliminated from public life despite the fact that the oldest written
monuments in Kosovo and Metohija were composed in Cyrillic UN-Beauftragter Steiner: Schnellere Lösung der Kosovo-Statusfrage (Mit Bildern)=Berlin
(ddp). Die Entscheidung über die Unabhängigkeit der jugoslawischen
Teilrepublik Kosovo kommt möglicherweise früher als gedacht.
Die Vorstellung vieler Regierungen, wonach eine Lösung der «Statusfrage»
des Kosovo Generationen dauern werde, sei überholt, sagte der UN-Sonderbeauftragte
für das Kosovo, Michael Steiner, nach einem Treffen mit Außenminister
Joschka Fischer (Grüne) am Dienstag in Berlin. Nach den Terroranschlägen
vom 11. September 2001 in den USA sei klar, dass «wir nicht mehr
so viel Zeit wie zehn Jahre oder mehr haben». DEUTSCHE WELLE 13.11.2002 Head of UN mission in Kosovo Michael Steiner meets with German foreign minister Joschka Fischer It will certainly not take ten years before the final decision as formerly thought The special representative of the United Nations in Kosovo Michael Steiner clearly informed that time is running out. The building of democratic institutions in Kosovo and definition of its status are urgently necessary, announced the UNMIK head in Berlin after meeting with German foreign minister Joschka Fischer, saying that the position that resolution of the status issue may be extended for years more is erroneous. After the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 the international community is less and less ready for long-term engagement in Kosovo, explained Steiner. He emphasized that the region needs sustainable institutions and that prior to their formation the principle of _standards before status_ must be in effect. _We must focus on the essence and that is to make Kosovo a society which is ready to resolve the status issue. Essential to this are institutions, effective self-government, and that is in the hands of the Kosovars themselves,_ said Michael Steiner. It is also necessary to establish a state of law, enable the return of refugees, economic development, participation of minorities in public life and to begin dialogue with Belgrade and achieve internal stability because only then can the status issue be addressed, he continued. During a lecture later on at Berlin_s Humboldt University, he emphasized that the final status of Kosovo may be decided on in three to four years. The next key resolution of the United Nations Security Council, call it Resolution 1644, will decide the status issue, said the UNMIK head. The Security Council adopts about 60 resolutions per year and the current provisions regarding international administration of Kosovo from June 1999 are enumerated under number 1244; the comment of the German diplomat, therefore, suggests that 2006 may be the year by which a decision regarding the international legal position of the southern Yugoslav province should be determined. At the same time Michael Steiner emphasized that the future status of Kosovo remains open and that the only certainty is that there will be no return to the state on the eve of the three month-long war which ended three and a half years ago. Also excluded, in his opinion, is the division of Kosovo or its cantonization, that is, ethnic division into regions with limited self-government. The exclusion of these possibilities, however, leaves only state sovereignty or some sort of federal ties with Serbia as the only realistic possibilities. After the period of international administration in Kosovo, in which the United States plays an irreplaceable role, the European Union is expected to assume the initiative in the region and to offer a long-term integration strategy in this part of the Balkans, Steiner himself observed. During talks with the German foreign minister, he also advised of the most recent developments in connection with local elections held at the end of October and the program for the return of expelled persons. Although a legal vacuum has been created due to the fact that the Serbs partially boycotted the elections in certain locations, the plan for the internal decentralization of Kosovo will be successfully continued, assessed the UNMIK head. Joschka Fischer highly praised the work of the German diplomat who since February has headed the United Nations mission in Kosovo since February and promised him the full support of the German government. Germany is very interested in the further progress of the building of Kosovo, said Fisher and added: _We want Kosovo to continue to develop towards multiethnicity and we discussed related regional issues as viewed from the European perspective._ The two men expressed their conviction that the situation in Kosovo would continue to develop favorably. /Translated from Serbian/ ===================================
BRYSHAW: STEINER CO-ORDINATES INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DSRSG Charles Bryshaw sent a letter to Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova reminding him once again of his _limited powers_ in the field of activities in foreign relations. ERP KIM Info Service MORE LANDMINES IN KLOKOT New tragedy
avoided purely by chance near the place where Svetlana Stankovic was
killed ================================================ THE TIMES (UK) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-468814,00.html November 04, 2002 Albanian gangs are underworld threat By Stewart Tendler, Crime Correspondent ALBANIAN gangsters are the emerging force in the British underworld, according to the latest intelligence reports from Scotland Yard and Europol. Described by police as violent, daring, resourceful and often well armed, Albanian gangs have already made inroads into prostitution and are starting to edge their way into the heroin trade. Few domestic criminals would contemplate a kidnap attempt on a celebrity because of the highly successful British police record in foiling them, but kidnap and extortion are common in eastern Europe. An intelligence assessment from the National Criminal Intelligence Service this summer warned senior detectives and ministers of the dangers that the Albanians could pose. Some have entered Britain as illegal immigrants and others have posed as Kosovan Albanians to claim refugee status. The Albanians operate in loose-knit clans based on the villages and mountains of their native lands. Many are from the poverty-stricken north and east, where guns are widely carried and blood feuds practised. Police believe that the gangs here are partly controlled by clan leaders at home in Albania. Cash is sent back to home villages. The gangs first began to appear in Italy in the 1990s and rapidly took control of vice in many big cities. Italian police and the underworld were stunned by the violence used to gain power on the streets. In the late 1990s Scotland Yard vice detectives noticed their growing presence in London. They are now believed to run up to three quarters of the capital 's brothels and several thousand young prostitutes.
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