The New York Times

Friday, February 18, 2000

Shock of Kosovo Violence May Prove Incentive for Peace

MITROVICA, Kosovo, Feb. 17 -- The explosion of violence in and around this northern town during the past two weeks, which left 11 dead and dozens wounded, may not prove so much a disaster for Kosovo as an event that shocks and galvanizes society, leaders here are saying.

The immediate result has been to bring hundreds more peacekeeping troops to the streets of Mitrovica to enforce a curfew with foot patrols, and post armored vehicles at almost every junction.

The commander of the Kosovo peacekeeping force, Gen. Klaus Reinhardt of Germany, has increased the troop presence fourfold. "Whereas we had one battalion, now we have elements of up to about four battalions in the city," he said in an interview today.

General Reinhardt's plan for the past few months has been to make the peacekeeping force in Mitrovica and elsewhere more multinational in order to prevent the local communities from accusing the peacekeepers of bias. French troops in Mitrovica have particularly come under heavy criticism by both Serbs and ethnic Albanians. Already, more diverse troops can be seen as they patrol the streets, searching houses and vehicles for weapons.

"Basically we are absolutely on track," General Reinhardt said. "I do not see this as any turning point in our basic policy, which I see as absolutely right."

But as more troops took to the streets, Yugoslavia's president, Slobodan Milosevic, lashed out at the United Nations-led effort, saying the peacekeepers should leave immediately, Reuters reported today. Mr. Milosevic denounced the United Nations mission in the southern Serbian province as shameful and a total fiasco and said it should be ended as soon as possible.

Mr. Milosevic lost control of the province, seen as a cradle of Serbian culture, with the arrival of NATO-led peacekeepers last June following 11 weeks of air strikes to halt Belgrade's repression of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.

If the recent violence in Mitrovica has proved a setback for the NATO-led peacekeepers and United Nations administration, it has not produced a change of heart. The general described his soldiers, who came under the heaviest fire on Sunday in all their eight months of peacekeeping, as "really shocked." But he refused to blame anyone but a "stupid fool" who opened fire and sparked a fire fight all over the city.

If anything, the tension and bloodshed these past two weeks has forced the leaders, both local and international, closer together. General Reinhardt worked closely with the local Albanian commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps, Rahman Rama, a former guerrilla commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, to contain the violence.

The United Nations special representative in Kosovo, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, said he has seen local leaders such as Hashim Thaci, the former political leader of the K.L.A., and Ibrahim Rugova of the Democratic League for Kosovo, start to emerge as responsible political leaders. He praised Mr. Thaci in particular for traveling to Mitrovica to plead for calm. General Reinhardt said both leaders were visibly shocked by the fighting.

In the aftermath of the violence, Dr. Kouchner has taken the offensive in calling on other nations to live up to their pledges of money, aid and personnel. He attacked his own government, France, for not supplying enough policemen, and has countered criticism of the United Nations by criticizing countries that have failed to provide his mission with the necessary resources.

"My appeal is to the international community," he said. "They must see that they have to back us, that for all those who say we have failed to protect the minorities here, we will never give up. If this is a turning point, then we will turn"

The consensus here is that to calm Mitrovica and recoup the confidence lost in the past few weeks more soldiers, police officers and resources will be needed. As part of the overall effort, Dr. Kouchner is sending 100 United Nations administrative staff members to reinforce the fledgling administration in the north. He is also bringing in international judges in hopes of enforcing the law.

Mario Morcone, an Italian city prefect who is running the United Nations administration in Mitrovica, stresses that to reduce the ethnic tensions the city needs jobs and joint employment projects.

The United Nations mission throughout Kosovo is short of money. But the shortcomings are particularly noticeable in Mitrovica, which lacks police officers, a working judiciary and stable businesses.

"If the international community cannot give us enough to pay people's pensions, then Mr. Milosevic will," warned Dr. Kouchner, who had to cut short a fund-raising trip to Japan and Europe when the violence erupted.

The partition of Mitrovica, with Serbs in the north and Albanians south of the river Ibar, is now on the United Nations' agenda, officials say. They talk of giving the city a special status, creating an open city for residents only, who, without outsiders aggravating tensions, could find a way to live and work together.

The local leaders, Serb and Albanian, meanwhile blame each other, but there is no doubt that the Albanians are more flexible. Bajram Rexhepi, the Albanian mayor of Mitrovica, has a list of ideas to improve the situation, many of which the peacekeepers and the United Nations are already trying to implement. And because the Serbs and Albanians have broken off all dialogue, Mr. Rexhepi even offered to give up his position in favor of a United Nations administrator who could rule by decree.

Oliver Ivanovic, the leader of the Serb National Council, dismissed that idea immediately.

"First we must stop the violence," he said, adding that if Mr. Rexhepi "has the power, I expect him to stop the Albanian terrorists." Yet for his part, Mr. Ivanovic says he cannot control the Serbs who attack ethnic Albanians, saying it is too dangerous for him to take the side of Albanians.

For all the talk, the first signs of any return to normalcy have yet to be seen. Claire Bourgeois, who heads the office of the United Nations high commissioner for refugees in Mitrovica, is just hoping for signs of freedom of movement, one of the basic tenets of the peacekeeping mission that never really existed in Mitrovica.

"It is most important," she said. "We need to increase freedom of movement for people stuck in their apartments. Good security should be provided but also a consensus from the local communities that this should be allowed."