Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-03-13

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Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORIST ATTACKS CONTINUE

[02] ETHNIC ALBANIAN REPRESENTATIVES AGAIN FAIL TO ATTEND PRISTINA TALKS

[03] ETHNIC ALBANIAN REPRESENTATIVES FAIL TO ATTEND TALKS IN PRISTINA

[04] ETHNIC ALBANIANS TRY TO JUSTIFY REJECTION OF DIALOGUE

[05] SERBIAN GOVERNMENT INVITES ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADERS TO TALKS

[06] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION TAKES PART IN A U.N. COMMITTEE SESSION IN GENEVA

[07] DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER LILIC RECEIVED THE IRANIAN CHARGE D'AFFAIRES

[08] FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MEETS IN SESSION

[09] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL MEETS A COUNCIL OF EUROPE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION

[10] GALLOIS ON ANTI-SERB CAMPAIGN AND ITS INFLUENCE ON KOSOVO DEVELOPMENTS 1991."

[11] QIAN: KOSOVO IS AN INTERNAL AFFAIR OF YUGOSLAVIA

[12] RUSSIAN DUMA DELEGATION TO VISIT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA SOON

[13] U.N. REAFFIRMS YUGOSLAVIA'S SOVEREIGNTY AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

[14] MARKOVIC: INVITATION FOR DIALOGUE STILL OPEN

[01] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORIST ATTACKS CONTINUE

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

An unidentified person threw a hand grenade at the inn owned by ethnic Albanian Taljus Eljezaj in the village of Radavac, near Pec, late Wednesday, causing considerable damages. There were no casualties. This is the fourth bombing attack in the Pec area over the past two days, with the target being ethnic Albanians loyal to Serbia who have refused to back terrorism in its southern province of Kosovo and Metohija.

[02] ETHNIC ALBANIAN REPRESENTATIVES AGAIN FAIL TO ATTEND PRISTINA TALKS

Tanjug, 1998-03-13

Leaders of ethnic Albanian parties in Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija again failed to attend talks with a Serbian Government delegation, scheduled for 11 a.m. local time on Friday, despite individually sent invitations to them.

The delegation, headed by Vice-Premier Ratko Markovic, included also ministers without portfolio Ratomir Vico, Andreja Milosavljevic and Ivan Sedlak, and officials of parliamentary parties, Vojislav Zivkovic of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), Milovan Bojic of the Yugoslav Left (JUL), Tomislav Nikolic of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and Antal Bijaci of the Alliance of Vojvodina's Hungarians (SVM).

On arriving in Pristina, Markovic said the ethnic Albanian representatives' failure to show up would mean that the obstacle to the talks was of a fundamental rather than technical nature.

Markovic said the Serbian Government had issued on Thursday individual invitations to the ethnic Albanian representatives to Friday's talks, saying the previous invitation had been general because the government's view had been that it should leave to ethnic Albanians to decide who should represent them in the talks.

Leader of the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo Ibrahim Rugova, one of those invited to the talks, called at a news conference on the international community and in particular the United States to back what he called the ethnic Albanians' legitimate right to democracy, freedom and independence. He said this would be the best solution for ethnic Albanians, Serbs and the region.

Instead of attending the talks, to which they were urged by the international community, the ethnic Albanian representatives called on their supporters to take part in demonstrations on Friday afternoon.

[03] ETHNIC ALBANIAN REPRESENTATIVES FAIL TO ATTEND TALKS IN PRISTINA

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

Representatives of political parties of Kosmet Albanians did not respond to the invitation of the Government of Serbia for dialogue with Pristina about pending issues regarding the assertion of human and civil rights, so the head of the delegation of the Republic of Serbia, Deputy Premier Ratko Markovic, called on ethnic Albanian representatives for talks tomorrow.

Markovic said that the government was repeating the invitation under the same conditions set in the first invitation for dialogue, which should determine the framework for future talks.

"The framework should be based on the constitutional and legal order of Serbia as a state and on human, civil and minority rights as recognized by the international community," he specified and added that the meeting was conceived as an "open and democratic dialogue and opinion exchange."

"We were unable to conduct the planned talks today, and if the reason for the non-arrival of ethnic Albanian representatives was of technical nature, those difficulties could be surmounted tomorrow," Markovic said.

Nikolic recalled that SRS had always advised full civil equality of all nationals of the Republic of Serbia, but it also always insisted that all nationals observe the Constitution and laws.

"We consider that all problems in Kosmet can be resolved by a constructive approach of all political factors, without foreign interference. Kosovo and Metohija must remain part of the Republic of Serbia. We are ready to support the concept of cultural autonomy for members of the Albanian national minority," Nikolic said.

With that autonomy, he specified, ethnic Albanians would gain the right to independently manage the spheres of education, health care, information, social benefits and pensions, and all remittances for that would be paid into provincial funds, while taxes would have to be paid to the state.

He called on all political parties of the Albanian national minority to be registered in accordance with Serbian and Yugoslav laws and to take part actively in political life.

The talks were to be held at the Provincial Government in Pristina, the centre of Kosovo and Metohija, at 11 a.m. local time(10:00 hrs GMT). The Serbian delegation left the premises after waiting 35 minutes for ethnic Albanian representatives to show up.

The delegation, headed by Vice-Premier Ratko Markovic, included also Ministers without portfolio Ratomir Vico, Andreja Milosavljevic and Ivan Sedlak as well as officials of parliamentary parties, Vojislav Zivkovic of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), Milovan Bojic of the Yugoslav Left (JUL), Tomislav Nikolic of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and Antal Bijaci of the Alliance of Vojvodina's Hungarians.

Markovic told reporters on arriving in Pristina that in the province, in the territory of Serbia, the delegation was to hold talks on the exercising of human, civil and national rights.

"We have shown in this way that the issue we are going to address is Serbia's state affair and that we are capable of solving it through our own resources," he said failing to specify questions to be discussed and a method of talks.

He said all questions were open to dialogue based on the footing of equality. "We are going to talks, we have set no conditions for them except that we determine a framework of talks" he said. He said the framework must be based on the relevant constitutional and international order and human, national and civil rights recognised by the international community.

He said that, in keeping with its statement containing its invitation to dialogue, the Serbian Government had decided who was to represent it in the talks. He said the delegation representing the government included also party officials, saying it was a joint delegation that had a joint approach to the talks.

[04] ETHNIC ALBANIANS TRY TO JUSTIFY REJECTION OF DIALOGUE

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

Representatives of ethnic Albanians of Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet) on Thursday failed to show up for talks proposed by the Serbian Government on resolving concrete issues concerning Kosmet citizens.

Ethnic Albanians tried to justify this move - which is contrary also to the stand of the international community which had urged them to open dialogue with the Serbian authorities and had condemned terrorism - saying the invitation had been rejected because it was "not serious" as it had been sent through public news media.

Dzemailj Mustafa, the public relations adviser to Democratic Alliance of Kosovo (DSK) President Ibrahim Rugova, read an official statement by the ethnic Albanian side, which he called "the Kosovo leadership," at a press conference.

The statement gave an arbitrary assessment that the official institutions of Serbia "are playing a game of procrastination" and are trying to "prevent serious dialogue, and blame the Albanian side for this" - with invitations for talks sent twice in two days.

The ethnic Albanian side urges the settling of problems peacefully and with political means, but "through serious talks and with effective mediation by a third party," said Mustafa.

Ethnic Albanian leaders did not specify who might represent this third party, nor did they comment in the statement their stand on appeals by the international community to show cooperativity in seeking solutions to Kosmet issues.

The Contact group met in London on Tuesday and appealed to ethnic Albanians to accept dialogue with the Belgrade authorities, making it clear that they did not support Kosmet's secession or terrorism.

The separatism of Kosmet Albanian was also strongly condemned by U.S. special envoy Robert Gelbard who had met with leaders of ethnic Albanian parties in Pristina before the London meeting. He had asked them on that occasion clearly to disassociate themselves from terrorism.

Ethnic Albanians have not replied to these appeals so far, and today's rejection of the Serbian authorities' invitation for talks can be interpreted as proof of their rejection of a political solution for Kosmet as an inseparable part of Serbia.

The statement criticized the Serbian Government for sending out the invitation "without an address" and that it "does not offer a single possibility for resolving any problem."

The invitation by the Serbian Government, formulated as a public invitation to dialogue, without any conditions, was open for all issues of importance to the citizens of Kosmet, proceeding from resolving the status of minorities according to top world standards and in keeping with international acts, to issues of a speedier economic and cultural development of the province.

It is interesting to note that Mustafa read the statement in the Albanian language only, a statement which included formulations about alleged state terror in Kosmet.

[05] SERBIAN GOVERNMENT INVITES ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADERS TO TALKS

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

Having learned from the media that the Serbian Government's public invitation to leaders of the ethnic Albanian parties and associations in the province of Kosovo-Metohija was allegedly not addressed to anybody specifically, the negotiators appointed by the Serbian Government, headed by Vice Premier Ratko Markovic, sent on Thursday a written invitations to a number of activists of ethnic Albanian parties and associations, as well as public and cultural workers, expressing understanding for their attitude, the Serbian Information Ministry said in a statement.

The Serbian Government did not do it on Wednesday, not wishing to be the one to choose which ones of the ethnic Albanian leaders should represent their community to the talks.

However, the invitations for Friday's talks were sent to President of the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo Ibrahim Rugova, President of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo Adem Demaqi, President of the Social Democratic Party Luleta Pula-Beqiri, President of the Christian Democratic Party Mark Krasniqi, President of the Union of Independent Trade Unions Hajrua Gorani, President of the Peasants' Party Hivzi Islami, as well as Mahmut Bakali, Azem Vllasi, Remzi Kolgeci, Kaqusha Jashari, Gani Jashari and other public figures.

The Serbian Government negotiators, together with negotiators of the parties represented in the Parliament of the Yugoslav Republic of Serbia, will be again on Friday, March 13, 1998, at 11 a.m. at the offices of the Government in Pristina, 2, Vidovdanska street, for an open and public talk with representatives of the Albanian minority, the statement said.

[06] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION TAKES PART IN A U.N. COMMITTEE SESSION IN GENEVA

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

A Yugoslav delegation has taken part in a Geneva session of the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which reviewed a report on the implementation of a Convention on racial discrimination in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The delegation, comprising Assistant Yugoslav Justice Minister Redzep Hodza, Chairwoman of the Yugoslav Commission for cooperation with UNICEF Margit Savovic and the Director of the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry's Department for cooperation with international organizations Bratislav Djordjevic, informed the Committee on Wednesday and Thursday about the Yugoslav Government's efforts to have the Convention fully implemented.

The Yugoslav delegation issued a statement saying it had informed the Committee that there had been some problems relating to the implementation of the Convention due to the war that was raging in Yugoslavia's neighbourhood during the period specified in the report, and the unjust sanctions against Yugoslavia.

The Committee praised and welcomed the Yugoslav Government's readiness and openness to cooperation with this U.N. body and said this would have a positive effect on the implementation of the Convention in Yugoslavia.

During the talks, the Committee and the Yugoslav delegation clearly coordinated their stands on many issues, including the position and rights of minorities.

Experts made it clear that current international standards did not recognize the minorities' right to self-determination and secession and stressed that all matters pertaining to the promotion of the position and rights of minorities should be resolved through dialogue with the authorities of their country of residence.

[07] DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER LILIC RECEIVED THE IRANIAN CHARGE D'AFFAIRES

Tanjug, 1998-03-03

Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Lilic received on Thursday the outgoing Charge d'Affaires of the Iranian Embassy in Belgrade Seyed Ahmad Hedayat, at the Iranian diplomat's request, a Government statement said.

In a lengthy and friendly talk, satisfaction was expressed that cooperation processes between the two countries had been reopened in the past year and that the bilateral trade was steadily being promoted. It was set out that numerous unused possibilities for cooperation still existed.

Deputy Prime Minister Lilic informed the Iranian diplomat that, under a Federal-Government-backed decision of the Serbian Government to open dialogue with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, a delegation of Serbian parliamentary and government representatives had left for Serbia's southern province earlier in the day.

Lilic expressed hope that the process of the establishment of dialogue and confidence would prove productive. He said that dialogue could take a long time, but set out that any accord through dialogue was better than the abyss "on the brink of which we find ourselves."

"I am certain that there is no pertinent political figure in Serbia who would be ready to negotiate independence for Kosovo and Metohija, but I am convinced of the readiness to discuss the highest degree of autonomy, on the model of solutions which already exist in the world and within the framework of the principles contained in the Charter of the U.N., the Paris and Helsinki Charters and the Council of Europe Convention," Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Lilic stressed.

He said that some distinguished members of the international community, guided by their own temporary interests, were giving false hopes to ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija that they could fulfil their secessionist wishes. This is not good and it leads to a resolution of the problem by means of force, and our Government has confirmed that it is for dialogue, Lilic said.

The Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister underlined that everything, except separatism, could be discussed, coupled with the understandable condemnation of terrorism.

The world today aspires for all possible forms of integration and carved out tiny states are doomed. Whoever supports independence for Kosovo and Metohija surely does not want its prosperity. Our goal is for Kosovo and Metohija to develop at a stepped up pace within Serbia, Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Lilic set out.

The Iranian diplomat conveyed his country's position that the developments in Kosovo and Metohija were Yugoslavia's internal affair and that all existing problems must be resolved through dialogue.

Seyed Ahmad Hedayat said that Iran supported the efforts invested to that end by Yugoslavia and the Serbian Government, since he said only dialogue and mutual acknowledgement were conducive to the stabilization of the situation in Kosovo and Metohija.

The Iranian diplomat stressed that his country opposed terrorism, as it, itself, was terrorism's chief victim.

Mr. Hedayat expressed the readiness of Iran, as country-chairman of the Islamic Conference, to communicate its position to other member-countries so that they would together help calm the situation.

Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Lilic thanked Mr. Hedayat for the lent support and the overall contribution made to the promotion of relations between the two countries, the Government statement said.

[08] FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MEETS IN SESSION

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

The Federal Government met in session on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Radoje Kontic and established the platform for talks between Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic and Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov in Belgrade on March 17-18.

The Government also adopted a platform for talks between Minister Jovanovic and French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine in Belgrade on March 19, said a Federal Government statement.

A basis for talks between Minister Jovanovic and German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel in Belgrade on March 19 was also established.

The Government adopted a platform for talks between Yugoslav Agriculture Minister Nedeljko Sipovac and the Belarus Minister of Agriculture and Foodstuffs in Minsk on March 23-25.

A platform for the imminent talks between Federal Transport Minister Dejan Drobnjakovic and Israeli Transport Minister Yitzhak Levi in Belgrade was also adopted, said the statement.

The Government also adopted the basis for talk between Federal Agriculture Minister Rade Filipovic and Algerian Minister for Equipment and Land Development Abdelrahman Belayat in Belgrade on March 15-19. The Government established the basis for concluding a contract with the Algerian Government on avoiding double taxation and an Agreement on mutual incitement and protection of investments between the two countries.

Negotiations will be held in Belgrade on March 17-18 on the conclusion of an agreement with the Austrian Government on air traffic, and a federal delegation will be in Bucharest on March 16-18 to coordinate a programme of cooperation with Romania in the areas of education and culture until the year 2000.

The Government also adopted a platform for concluding an agreement with Egypt on cooperation in the areas of health and medicine and a draft of this international document.

[09] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL MEETS A COUNCIL OF EUROPE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

Yugoslav Parliament's Chamber of Republics (Upper House) Speaker Srdja Bozovic met on Thursday with a Council of Europe parliamentary delegation paying a two-day visit to Yugoslavia.

The frank talk focused on the current political situation in Serbia and Yugoslavia and especially on the situation in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo-Metohija.

The parties to the talk also specified most important issues to be discussed at Friday's meeting between delegations of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and the Yugoslav Parliament.

Bozovic informed the Council of Europe parliamentarians that state bodies were ready to resolve all issues of dispute in Kosovo-Metohija through dialogue and agreement. He also said he was convinced that the problem of Kosovo-Metohija would be settled to the satisfaction of all the people of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Attending the talks was also Ljubisa Ristic, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Yugoslav Parliament's Chamber of Citizens (Lower House).

[10] GALLOIS ON ANTI-SERB CAMPAIGN AND ITS INFLUENCE ON KOSOVO DEVELOPMENTS 1991."

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

One of the most prominent French military experts Pierre-Marie Gallois has said that the "permanent foreign interference" in the internal affairs of the Yugoslav state started in 1991 and "has not stopped since."

Retired general and renowned nuclear strategist Gallois told Tanjug's correspondent in Paris that he saw the continuation of this interference in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija.

Gallois said that Croatia and Slovenia had been "prematurely recognised under the German pressure" on December 17, 1991 and that this had initiated a chain reaction.

"The Eastern Orthodox population in the Balkans - the Serbs - could be efficiently supported only by Russia, but it (Russia) was completely neutralised at the time. Croatia and Slovenia were supported by Germany, ethnic Albanians called for the support of Turkey for the sake of Islam and the United States supported Bosnia, giving great publicity to the local Muslims, as well as Macedonia and Albania," Gallois illustrated the western interference in the Balkans.

He said that "present developments in Kosovo should be observed within this framework," without ignoring the fact that "ethnic Albanian formations underwent military training in Turkey" and that "as it is widely known, Turkey delivered adequate weapons to Albanians."

The goal was "obviously to reinforce the ethnic Albanians' military position so that they can finally expel Serbs from Kosovo."

"The international community's policy and media campaign against the Serbs have created conditions for the ethnic Albanian rebellion" in Kosovo and Metohija, Gallois said.

"During four or five years, the Serbs were satanised by the western media and all earthly sins were ascribed to them, which helped ethnic Albanians in Kosovo develop the idea of independence from the Serbs, who were viewed badly by the international community," Gallois said.

Kosovo and Metohija is the "cradle of Serbia, a territory full of the historical and art heritage of the Serbian people, which means the same to the Serbs as the Paris region means to the French," the general said.

Asked whether he thinks that the media campaign against the Serbs has started again, Gallois said that this was a "constant campaign" and that he thought that "it has never stopped since

Speaking about the world's double standards in approaching a country's internal problems, he mentioned some countries's attitude towards terrorism in Algeria "where massacres occur daily."

"I have never seen an English or American representative tell Algeria that what is happening there should stop. For them, this is an internal issue, because Algerians do not allow anybody to deal with their affairs," said Gallois, who wrote a book about the wars in Bosnia and Iraq.

Gallois said that the United States "is strengthening its position in the Balkans" and that "Europeans are responsible for this because they have proved to be unable to resolve their own problems."

Commenting on the 'Contact group' London meeting on Kosovo and Metohija, Gallois said that three different stands had been expressed there - the hardline U.S.-German-British stand, France's reconciliatory stand and the stand of Russia, which opposes sanctions against Belgrade.

"But what counts are the American decisions, supported by Great Britain and Germany. France does what it can. Faced with the U.S.-German-British coalition, France cannot do much, because the only supported decisions are those desired by the Americans," Gallois said.

[11] QIAN: KOSOVO IS AN INTERNAL AFFAIR OF YUGOSLAVIA

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

Chinese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said on Thursday that "the issue of Kosovo was an internal affair of Yugoslavia," and warned against the danger for the Balkan region if "separatist activities led by extremists are not prevented."

The Chinese Foreign Minister, at a well-attended press conference in Beijing held within the regular annual session of the Chinese Parliament, said that "in essence, the issue of Kosmet lies within Yugoslavia, so it is an internal issue of Yugoslavia."

Responding to Tanjug's correspondent, Qian specified that "Kosovo is part of the territory of Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav Government and Serbian Government have the authority and responsibility for resolving the issue in an appropriate manner."

Indicating that China expresses concern at the latest developments in Kosovo, he said that the Balkans are a region with very complicated inter- ethnic relations and that, in that respect, the legitimate right and interest of all ethnic groups should be protected.

The Chinese minister, however, also warned that "efforts should be made to deter and prevent separatist activities led by extremists," pointing thus to the real causes of instability in Kosmet.

"If these activities are not handled with caution, they could lead to wider regional unrest and event conflicts," Qian said.

He considered that any measures undertaken by the international community with respect to the situation should be in favour of regional peace and stability. On the other hand, and at the same time, interference in the internal affairs of a country should be avoided and prevented, he said.

Asked how China would react to possible debates in the Security Council "about an arms embargo," Qian said that the United Nations had not discussed the manner. "The United Nations is probably not the appropriate venue for discussions about this issue," Qian specified, adding that the unilateral implementation of the embargo was not a method for the overall solution of the Kosovo problem.

"That is why we should examine more appropriate ways for resolving this problem peacefully, and not by bloodshed," he said.

His assessment that "the region has too many weapons" and that the arms embargo "could be an option", the Chinese minister explained by the fact that "during the recent conflicts and unrest in Albania arms were widely spread in the region, so that every man had a weapon, which is very dangerous."

[12] RUSSIAN DUMA DELEGATION TO VISIT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA SOON

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

The leadership of the Russian Parliament's Lower House, the State Duma, on Thursday decided to send a delegation to Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija to get first-hand information about the situation in the province.

It has not been decided who will comprise the delegation, but the State Duma usually sends the representatives of all parliamentary parties to such missions.

The Duma on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution, which strongly condemned all attempts to destroy Yugoslavia's integrity. The document also rejected any foreign interference in Serbia's internal affairs and Russian President Boris Yeltsin was called upon to help resolve the crisis.

Kosovo and Metohija was on Thursday discussed at a Foreign Ministry news briefing, whose spokesman Gennady Tarasov informed reporters about the Serbian government's initiatives to resolve the questions outstanding in the province. "These are correct steps in a good direction and we see them as Belgrade's positive reaction to the 'Contact group' statement of March 9, " Tarasov said.

He voiced hope that the ethnic Albanian party leaderships will give a positive answer to these proposals.

The news that the ethnic Albanian political parties on Thursday did not respond to the Serbian Government's call for a dialogue was unfavourably received by the Russian public and the call by head of the Serbian delegation Ratko Markovic on ethnic Albanian representatives to attend talks on Friday was received well.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman informed reporters in detail about the Serbian and Yugoslav governments' invitation to ethnic Albanian political party representatives for a dialogue on the ways to resolve concrete issues, on which depend the realisation of human and civil rights and the province's economic and cultural development.

Tarasov also said that the Serbian Government had made proposals for the normalisation of education in Kosovo and Metohija and the International Red Cross was invited to visit the province and get first-hand information about the situation on the ground.

Tarasov also informed reporters about the decisions made at the Wednesday special session of the OSCE Permanent Council, which discussed possibilities to resolve the Kosovo problem.

Urging Yugoslavia's speedy return to the OSCE, Tarasov said that this would be facilitated by the return of a permanent OSCE mission to Kosovo and Metohija.

"We are starting with the fact that such a decision would create important preconditions for a speedy restoration of Yugoslavia's participation in the OSCE's work," Tarasov said and proposed that Felipe Gonzalez be the organisation's special representative in Kosovo and Metohija.

[13] U.N. REAFFIRMS YUGOSLAVIA'S SOVEREIGNTY AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

Tanjug, 1998-03-12

The U.N. Security Council has reaffirmed the principles of the U.N. Charter and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Council President Abdoulie Momodou Sallah of Gambia said late on Wednesday.

Sallah told a news conference after the Security Council consultations earlier in the day that the Council had reviewed a report submitted by the 'Contact group' that met in London on Monday to discuss the situation in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija.

He said the Council members had expressed concern at the situation in the province and that they had called on all sides to exercise utmost restraint and to enter into a serious political dialogue on how to settle differences through peaceful means.

Britain proposed on Tuesday that the Security Council release a statement on the Contact group report from the meeting, which was opposed by the majority of the 15-member Council.

China's U.N. representative, who insisted the most on a declaration providing for firm support to Yugoslavia's sovereignty and the respect of the principle of non-interference in sovereign countries' internal affairs, was backed by most Council members that stressed that the world body must make no precedent.

[14] MARKOVIC: INVITATION FOR DIALOGUE STILL OPEN

Tanjug, 1998-03-13

Serbian Deputy-Premier Ratko Markovic, who is heading a governmental delegation for talks with representatives of Albanian parties in Kosmet, said on Friday after the other side failed to show up again that the Serbian delegation was still ready for unconditional dialogue.

"We are ready to talk about all issues relating to Kosmet, whenever and wherever in the territory of Serbia," Markovic said, after waiting for one hour for ethnic Albanian representatives to show up for the talks.

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