[ALBSA-Info] Further admonishment of Alb ' terrorism'

[Kreshnik Bejko]

NATO Will Narrow Kosovo Buffer Zone
In Response to Ethnic Albanian Violence
A WSJ.COM News Roundup


BRUSSELS -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Tuesday said it is 
preparing to narrow the demilitarized zone between Kosovo and southern 
Serbia in response to a resurgence in the terrorist activities of ethnic 
Albanian extremists.

Lord Robertson, NATO's secretary-general, said that the Western alliance 
will trim the zone in a bid to flush out the ethnic Albanian militants who 
have taken control of it in recent months, using the area to launch attacks 
in southern Serbia.

Serb, Ethnic Albanians Exchange Fire as Tension Heightens After Bombings 
(Feb. 20)

At a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, which was called to take advantage 
of Colin Powell's first visit to Europe as U.S. Secretary of State, Lord 
Robertson said that the alliance would implement ''a phased and conditioned 
reduction'' of the buffer zone, which he said had become "a safe haven for 
extremist activities."

"We are deeply concerned about the continuing violence in Kosovo and 
southern Serbia,'' Lord Robertson said.

He didn't say when the zone would be trimmed.

"The United States will participate in whatever action the alliance believes 
is necessary," Mr. Powell said following Lord Robertson's statement. And in 
a warning to the rebels, the U.S. official added: "This is not the time to 
start a new conflict in Europe."

He also gave a commitment to the allies that the U.S. will maintain its 
presence in the Balkans as long as they do.

"The United States is committed to peacekeeping in the Balkans," Mr. Powell 
said. "The simple fact is: we went in together, we will come out together."

The buffer zone is a tense, three-mile-wide strip which appeals to ethnic 
Albanian rebels because only lightly-armed Serb police -- and not the 
Yugoslav army -- may patrol it.

NATO's statement of intent Tuesday is likely to please the Yugoslav 
government, which had requested such a move to put pressure on ethnic 
Albanian rebels operating in the Presevo Valley of southern Serbia.

Last week, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica vowed to clamp down on the 
ethnic Albanian extremists, whom he blamed for a weekend of bloodshed in 
which three Serb policemen and seven Serb civilians were killed, and 43 
civilians wounded in bomb attacks launched from the buffer zone.

President Kostunica ordered Serb soldiers and police to hunt down the rebels 
and the two sides exchanged mortar and machine-gun fire on the edge of the 
buffer zone, as Belgrade flexed its muscles in the troubled region.

Lord Robertson said NATO's Council would be receiving military advice on the 
details of a reduction of the zone, "and implications for the security 
situation in Kosovo."

He said the commander of NATO-led peacekeeping forces in Kosovo would retain 
overall authority for activities in the zone, "including the entry and 
disposition of Yugoslav army and Interior Ministry police forces."

He also said NATO was studying further assistance to the Macedonian 
government to protect its frontier with Kosovo and southern Serbia.

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com