[ALBSA-Info] Kosovo Independence Debated

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Kosovo Independence Debated

By GEORGE GEDDA
.c The Associated Press

  
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ibrahim Rugova, the leader of Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, 
said Friday that he and Secretary of State Colin Powell have an 
``understanding in general'' that independence for Kosovo should be 
supported. 

But a State Department official that the independence issue never came up 
during Powell's meeting with Rugova. 

The department said the meeting focussed mainly on democratic development of 
the Yugoslav province. It said the United States continues to support a U.N. 
Security Council resolution that calls for continued Yugoslav sovereignty 
over Kosovo. 

Following his State Department meeting, Rugova said, ``We did ask Secretary 
Powell for an early recognition of independence of Kosovo because we believe 
that recognition of independence will calm down the whole region.'' 

Asked for Powell's response, Rugova said, ``We have an understanding in 
general.'' 

Balkan issues dominated the State Department's agenda Friday, with the visits 
of Rugova, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic and Serbian Prime Minister 
Zoran Djindjic, sworn in Jan. 25. 

On Montenegro, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell also 
supports a democratic Montenegro within a democratic Yugoslavia. He commented 
as Djukanovic conferred with State Department officials about parliamentary 
elections the Yugoslav republic plans to hold in April. 

The new parliament will decide whether to hold an independence referendum. 

Boucher said Powell did not meet with Djukanovic because of scheduling 
problems and because ``we don't want to get involved in people's elections.'' 

Powell's meeting with Djindjic covered the status of legal proceedings 
against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. 

Djindjic said afterward he told Powell that Yugoslav authorities are 
preparing an indictment and the appointment of a prosecutor so Milosevic can 
be tried for alleged crimes committed against Serbs. 

According to Boucher's account of the meeting, Djindjic and Powell discussed 
the need for Yugoslavia to deal with these crimes in a way that does not 
preclude a trial of Milosevic by the International Criminal Tribunal for 
Yugoslavia in The Netherlands. 

The tribunal indicted Milosevic in 1999 for abuses against Kosovo's ethnic 
Albanians. 

On the Net: 

State Department notes on Serbia: 
http://www.state.gov/www/background-notes/serbia-9908-bgn.html 

AP-NY-02-02-01 1659EST