 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Books Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Kosovo waits
Talks between NATO and Yugoslav officials on a Serb military withdrawal from Kosovo dragged into their second day yesterday, with both sides struggling to impose face-saving demands from their political masters.NATO spokesman US Major Trey Cate said discussions had been suspended because two key members of the Yugoslav delegation -- army deputy chief-of-staff Colonel General Svetozar Marjanovic and Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Nebojsa Vujovic -- had left to consult with Belgrade. Yugoslavia's state-run Tanjug news agency also reported that key members of the Serb delegation had gone to Belgrade to receive instructions. It was the second time members of the Yugoslav delegation had left for consultations.
"There is no breakthrough," Cate said, but added that the feeling among NATO officials was "optimistic." He noted that the talks "deal with the timing and sequencing" of a withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo.
Lt.-Col. Robin Clifford, another spokesman at the talks, which had convened in Kumanovo, along the Macedonian border, described the talks as "intense and constructive discussions."
A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity after the two sides had met for nearly 10 hours, expressed "cautious optimism" that an agreement would be concluded before the day's end between British Lt-Gen Michael Jackson and the Yugoslavs. But the official said issues raised in the talks must be referred to "the halls of power" for approval. He did not elaborate, but the remark suggested that President Slobodan Milosevic's government was seeking substantive changes in the proposed agreement.
The official said the major stumbling blocks were the timing of the Yugoslav withdrawal from Kosovo, the end of the NATO bombing campaign and a UN Security Council approval of the peacekeeping force.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he hoped a Kosovo peace deal would be struck within the day, but previous experience in dealing with the Serbs demanded caution. "I haven't had any indications there is backsliding [from Belgrade] but, on the other hand, my experience of this business right from the start is that there will be backsliding," Blair said.
Tanjug reported new NATO air strikes shortly before the break in talks was announced, saying targets in southwestern and southern Kosovo were hit. Despite the peace moves, NATO intensified its air campaign, flying 658 sorties over a 24-hour period, which ended at midday on Tuesday. NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said that was a 50 per cent increase since last Thursday, when Milosevic accepted a peace proposal. Tanjug reported yesterday that more than 2,000 civilians have been killed and more than 5,000 wounded in 11 weeks of NATO air raids on Yugoslavia.
Washington and NATO have accused Milosevic of breaking his promise to abide by last week's agreement by stalling earlier talks on the pullout. The agreement requires complete withdrawal followed by the deployment of an international peacekeeping force to oversee the return of ethnic Albanian refugees.
The NATO official who spoke anonymously during yesterday's talks also indicated there were disagreements on how many Serbs could remain in Kosovo. The United States and its allies want all Serb police, soldiers and paramilitary militias to leave. Later, "hundreds, not thousands" could return to guard religious sites, patrol the borders and clear minefields. Among other things, the Yugoslavs fear Kosovo Albanian rebels could exploit the withdrawal to rush more fighters into the province. NATO, however, insisted it would negotiate only technical adjustments to the plan, not substantive, political issues.
The talks at Kumanovo began late Tuesday after the United States, Russia and six other nations agreed on the text of a Kosovo peace plan sent to the UN Security Council for final approval. The plan requires a peacekeeping force for Kosovo, with "substantial" NATO participation. Under the plan, NATO would suspend the bombing once it verified that a substantial troop withdrawal was underway. That would pave the way for the UN Security Council to approve the peace plan, under which 50,000 international peacekeepers are to move into the province.
Russia and China insist that NATO formally end the bombing before they approve the peacekeeping force within the Security Council. NATO is willing to suspend the campaign but wants to see a "substantial" withdrawal begin before the bombardment is finally terminated. US President Bill Clinton said only a "verifiable withdrawal of Serb forces will allow the US to suspend the bombing and go forward with the plan."
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said US intelligence has detected Serb preparations to withdraw from Kosovo, although no troops are moving or assembling for a pullout.
NATO spokesman Maj.-Gen. Walter Jertz, however, said that the Serbs were in fact reinforcing positions in western Kosovo and sending additional tanks toward the Albanian border, where the Yugoslav army is fighting ethnic Albanians.
Bacon confirmed the fighting along the border, saying that the Kosovo Liberation Army rebels had been trapped by Serb-led forces near the Morini crossing point, through which hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanian refugees have fled into Albania.
US B-52 bombers pummeled the area near Junik, where the KLA was trying to open a supply corridor into central Kosovo for a third straight day.
