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| ON A DEADLINE? | |
 October 27, 1998  | |
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CHARLES KRAUSE: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic waited until the last minute, and even then, there was widespread skepticism. But by today's deadline enough Yugoslav army and police units have been withdrawn from Kosovo to avert the military action NATO had threatened. That decision came this afternoon after NATO ambassadors met in Brussels. Then in Washington President Clinton explained the decision, saying that while there is still more to be done, Milosevic and the Serbs are now in essential compliance. PRESIDENT CLINTON: We are at a hopeful moment. But we should be under no illusion there is still a lot of hard road to walk before triumph - excuse me - before hope can triumph over hatred in the Balkans. I feel much better today about this, but we've still got to stay on the case if we want to see hope, freedom, and peace prevail. CHARLES KRAUSE: The original agreement that led to today's withdrawal was announced two weeks ago, the result of long and difficult negotiations between Serbia's wily and autocratic president, Milosevic, and U.S. Special Envoy to the Balkans, Richard Holbrooke. RICHARD HOLBROOKE: We have agree with President Milosevic on a ground verification program, augmented by an important aerial verification program. CHARLES KRAUSE: The agreement called for Milosevic and the Serbs to stop six months of escalating violence against Albanian civilians in Kosovo. It also required the Serbs to remove about a third of the army and police units sent into Kosovo since February to fight Albanian guerrillas; to allow NATO reconnaissance planes to overfly Kosovo to verify compliance; to grant partial self-government to the Albanian majority in Kosovo, whose political rights Milosevic rescinded 10 years ago. The agreement also called for a new police force, provincial elections, for international aid workers to be allowed to help resettle more than 300,000 ethnic Albanians who've been left homeless by the fighting, and also to allow 2,000 western observers to monitor the process on the ground and report violations. Originally, Milosevic was given four days to carry out the agreement or face NATO military reprisals. But the first deadline came and went without compliance. Serb forces remained in Kosovo and continued to fire on unarmed civilians, most recently, this weekend, when sniper fire disrupted funeral services for an 11-year-old Albanian boy, who was himself killed by sniper fire late last week. Still, NATO extended the first deadline until today, hoping Milosevic would eventually comply. But it wasn't until yesterday that the promised redeployment began in large numbers. And even then, NATO officials on the ground said they couldn't be sure if the Serb forces were, in face, being withdrawn from Kosovo, or simply being moved elsewhere within the beleaguered province. Meanwhile, there were signs today that the insurgent forces belonging to the Kosovo Liberation Army have begun to reoccupy positions lost to the Serbs over the summer, an ominous sign that could lead to renewed fighting. The KLA guerrillas are demanding independence for Kosovo, which belongs to Serbia but where at least three quarters of the population is ethnic Albanian. It's one of the complicating factors of the situation that while the U.S. and NATO have demanded that the Serbs withdraw militarily from Kosovo, they're also opposed to the Albanians' demand of independence. |
