Letter of Prominent Figures to The Times

Sir,

As the war that Milosevic unleashed in former Yugoslavia is now extended by him to Kosova (Kosovo in Serbian), with the grim possibility of its spreading to Macedonia and beyond, we once again witness destruction of villages, torture and summary execution of civilians and enforced displacement of the indigenous population.

Suppression of Kosova's political autonomy and denial of basic civil rights to its Albanian population were the foundation-stone of Milosevic's power in Serbia. Practically overnight Albanians were dismissed from their jobs, denied education in their own language, deprived of basic welfare and exposed to unchecked state terror.

Kosova became a de facto Serbian colony. Yet for almost a decade the population and its leaders have remained committed to passive resistance in the hope that the international community would deliver a just solution. Not only has this not happened, but the prospect of it ever happening has, since Dayton, receded into an indefinite future. Popular armed resistance has been the predictable consequence.

The West has hitherto chosen to accept Belgrade's claim that Kosova is an integral part of Serbia, despite Yugoslavia's dissolution. Unconditional possession of Kosova by Serbia, however, was not sanctioned by the Yugoslav Constitution, under which Kosova was explicitly tied to the Federation as such, being one of its eight members.

This provision was not accidental. Peace in the former Yugoslavia was ensured precisely by increasing Kosova's autonomy from Serbia, until the tie between the two became purely nominal. Kosova's desire to leave Serbia is thus not "separatism", but a politically valid and juridically defensible response to the break-up of Yugoslavia.

The longer Serbia is allowed to hold on to Kosova, moreover, the more violent and unstable it is itself going to become, and with it the Balkans as a whole. For it can never become a democratic country while it rules Kosova against its will. But Western politicians still seem unwilling to confront the real issue.

They describe the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) as "terroristic", although the term applies better to a State that terrorists its own citizens, as Serbia has been doing in Kosova, than to those resisting its wanton violence. The emergence of the KLA is merely a symptom of how intolerable the situation in Kosova has become.

The simple truth is that continuing Balkan turmoil can be avoided only by Kosova's removal from Serbian jurisdiction.

Yours,

JILL CRAIGIE,

MICHAEL FOOT,

ADRIAN HASTINGS,

REGINALD HIBBERT,

QUINTIN HOARE,

BRANKA MAGAS,

SALMAN RUSHDIE.