[ALBSA-Info] U.N. to set out Kosovo autonomy plan

[Iris Pilika]

U.N. to set out Kosovo autonomy plan

May 14, 2001
Web posted at: 1621 GMT


PRISTINA, Kosovo (CNN) -- The United Nations says its special representative 
in Kosovo will announce measures for the international body to step back 
from its governing role in the province.

Special Representative to the U.N. Secretary-General Hans Haekkerup plans to 
address the people of Kosovo on Monday outlining an election date, set for 
later this year, and the constitutional framework that will transfer power 
from the international body to the people of Kosovo.

The announcement will be the latest in a series of provisions set up by U.N. 
resolution 1244 to provide autonomy for the province.

Under the new step, the people of Kosovo will vote for a 120-member 
assembly, that will choose the president of the region.

"What's really exciting is that there are real provisions made for the 
minority community, " says Stacia Philips-Deshishku, spokeswoman for the 
U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

Philips-Deshishku says 10 seats on the assembly are set aside for the Serb 
community and 10 seats for minority groups, including Ashkali, Egyptian, 
Turkish, Bosniac and Gorani.

The rest of the 120 seats will be determined by the voters.

Haekkerup has met with leaders from the Kosovar Albanian and Serb 
communities to set up the process of government.

The United Nations will still retain its role in policing the region, after 
the new government is formed.

Kosovo, a province of Yugoslav Federal Republic of Serbia, has been under 
U.N. and NATO control since 1999, following a bombing campaign by the 
Western alliance to force Yugoslav troops to withdraw and end a crackdown on 
ethnic Albanians.


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