The New York Times

Monday, March 06, 2000

U.S. Worried About Tension on Kosovo Border

By STEVEN ERLANGER

RAGUE, March 5 -- Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright said today that the United States is "very concerned" about growing tensions in the Presevo valley, the area of Serbia on the boundary with eastern Kosovo, and said she had spoken to Kosovo Albanian leaders to urge moderation.

She also urged the Yugoslav government in Belgrade not to interfere in the area, even though it is not within Kosovo.

An offshoot of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the rebel military force, has been training just over the boundary in Serbia, apparently trying to unite the largely Albanian population in the Presevo valley with Kosovo.

"It is very important that extremists on both sides not be allowed to disrupt the situation further," Dr. Albright said after meeting with the Czech president, Vaclav Havel.

"We have been concerned about some activities of the Albanians, and I spoke to their leadership, and we'll continue to do so, because we want to work with moderate forces in Kosovo," she said.

But she said that "the only government involved in disrupting activities is the one in Belgrade."

Dr. Albright also said that she had spoken today with Bernard Kouchner, who heads the United Nations administration in Kosovo, and she said that she and President Clinton were working hard on trying to help him with "the most important problems he has," securing money for day-to-day administration and getting Western governments to provide police officers they have promised.

In Kosovo today, a memorial service for an Albanian guerrilla commander slain two years ago became a show of force for the former fighters, Agence France-Presse reported.

More than 1,000 members of the Kosovo rebel force's civilian successor, the Kosovo Protection Corps, which is officially a demilitarized unit, paraded in military-style fatigues and berets, many of them carrying side arms.

Gen. Agim Ceku, the former military head of the Kosovo Liberation Army and now commander of the new Corps, gave a speech punctuated by salvos of gunfire from youths in the rebel force's berets.

Hashim Thaci, former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, pledged in a speech to bring about a "free and independent" Kosovo, Agence France-Presse said.