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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters No retreat
VOWING no retreat on NATO's basic principles, US Defence Secretary William Cohen held talks in Helsinki yesterday with his Russian counterpart Igor Sergeyev amid signs that the impasse on the issue of Russian participation in the Kosovo peace-keeping force is about to be resolved.Russian intelligence chief and secretary of the security council, Vladimir Putin, said the issue could be settled by having a representative of the Russian military on a unified command staff of the Kosovo peace-keeping force (KFOR) to which the Russian peace-keeping troops could answer. Putin made no mention of previous Russian demands for control over a separate sector of Kosovo, something Washington has flatly rejected. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov are expected to join the talks today, Reuters reported.
NATO officials, meanwhile, confirmed a very high degree of compliance by Serbian troops withdrawing from southern Kosovo and Pristina according to the timetable set. But they extended until midnight the deadline for withdrawal form the area around Prizren in southwestern Kosovo.
Evidence of Serbian atrocities emerged and fear of bloody vengeance by ethnic Albanians rose as Dutch and Italian peace-keeping troops found the remains of around 20 bodies of Kosovo Albanians believed to have been massacred in the village of Velika Krusa as well as two mass graves containing 120 Albanian victims in another village. (see p.9)
Power switch
WATCHED by outgoing president Nelson Mandela, a galaxy of world leaders, thousands of dignitaries and tens of thousands of ordinary citizens, Thabo Mbeki, 57, was sworn in yesterday as South Africa's second democratically elected president.Reflecting South Africa's multi-racialism, Mbeki took the oath before the Constitutional Court president in four of the 11 official languages -- Sotho, Xhosa, English and Afrikaans.
Mbeki pledged to speed up social services and bridge racial divides that continue to hamper national unity. Mandela rose from his seat after the oath, waving to the crowd and holding Mbeki's right arm aloft, AFP reported.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were among foreign leaders attending the inauguration.
Deri resigns
ISRAELI Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak's coalition-building efforts got a lift on Tuesday with the resignation of the corruption-tainted Shas Party leader Aryeh Deri. A top aide to Barak said the announcement would open the door for "earnest coalition talks" with the ultra-Orthodox Shas, parliament's third largest party.Deri, convicted in March of taking bribes, said he was quitting pending a ruling on his Supreme Court appeal, Reuters reported.
Barak, who has until 8 July to form his government, has aimed for a broad coalition but has struggled in nearly a month of talks to secure enough partners for even a simple majority in the 120-seat parliament.
