t attacks by Albanians on Serbs make the enclaves necessary and said that if UN and NATO peacekeepers don't take action, the Serb position will be imperiled further (Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 10 Jul). Kouchner said yesterday that he did not ignore the views of ethnic Albanians. "I'm not ignoring anybody," he said. "I've discussed for hours and hours and weeks and weeks" (Reuters/Central Europe Online). According to the Times, Kouchner admitted that he did not consult Thaci or other Albanian leaders, because he views security as his responsibility. "Personally, I have always been on the side of those who suffer," he said. "Earlier, they were the Albanians, but now it is the Serbs and members of other communities" (Erlanger, New York Times). INCLUDEPICTURE d "/unwire/images/blank1.gif" Lacking Cooperation, UN Resorts To Tougher Measures US peacekeepers are turning to tougher measures than ever when facing uncooperative communities in Kosovo, the HYPERLINK "http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/200

0/07/11/fp6s1-csm.shtml" Christian Science Monitor reports. After Strpce locals ransacked a UN building in the province, peacekeepers last week temporarily suspended armored vehicle escorts that often protect traveling Serbs from the ethnic Albanians. "You can't attack us and then put your hand out for support and aid," said Brigadier General Randal Tieszen, the American commander in Kosovo. Peacekeepers have also withheld medical and other forms of aid from ethnic Albanians near Kamenica after a dispute over a memorial honoring the KLA. The Monitor reports that a lack of cooperation with peacekeepers "is a recurring problem in Kosovo," so long as ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs intimidate and commit violence against each other (Richard Mertens, Christian Science Monitor, 11 Jul). INCLUDEPICTURE d "/unwire/images/blank1.gif" Commentary Lays Blame On UN-Funded Protection Corps A commentary by reporter Jeremy Scahill in The Nation charges that the civilian Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) could be

responsible for some of the violence attacks by Kosovo Albanians against Serbs. The emergency services agency is funded and commanded by the United Nations. Scahill says the KPC "has been instrumental in sustaining an atmosphere of terror aiming for an ethnically cleaned Kosovo," adding that a UN report prepared by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan made public earlier this year accuses the KPC of "criminal activities, killings, ill-treatment/torture, illegal policing, abuse of authority, intimidation, breaches of political neutrality and hate speech." Scahill admonishes the lack of prosecution for those in the KPC, adding that not doing so "has in effect given the go-ahead to a wider campaign of terror against Serbs and other civilians." He writes that according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the campaign has forced more than 200,000 minorities, mostly Serbs, to leave Kosovo (Jeremy Scahill, The Nation, 10 Jul). INCLUDEPICTURE d "/unwire/images/blank1.gif" UN Investigates Shooting Of Ex-KLA

Leader UN police are investigating a Friday shooting that left a former Kosovo Liberation Army commander wounded. He is in stable condition ( HYPERLINK "http://www.chicago.tribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,2669,SAV-000709165,FF.html" Chicago Tribune , 9 Jul). Ramush Haradinaj, now a politician with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo party, was flown from a US military hospital in Kosovo to another in southern Germany, according to KFOR. Haradinaj's political party said that he was the target of an assassination attempt early Friday morning, but others involved in the incident maintained Sunday that they had wounded Haradinaj when he came to their home to attack them. HYPERLINK "http://www.centraleurope.com/news.php3?id=176753" Reuters reports that either version of the story could have serious consequences for international authorities in Kosovo. If Haradinaj was the victim of an attack, he is the third commander of the KLA to be targeted in recent months, but if he is arrested for his invol

vement in the incident, violence could erupt from his supporters (Reuters/Central Europe Online, 10 Jul). Meanwhile, international agencies were being advised over the weekend to avoid the southwestern village of Velika Hoca to ease tensions after violence committed Thursday. Serbs throwing rocks injured a German soldier and damaged a UN vehicle during a protest about explosions they had heard, KFOR said ( HYPERLINK "http://www.centraleurope.com/yugoslaviatoday/news.php3?id=176623" Agence France-Presse /Central Europe Online, 8 Jul). INCLUDEPICTURE d "/unwire/images/blank1.gif" UN Moves To Meet Voting Deadline The UN launched a major campaign yesterday to meet next weekend's deadline for registering Kosovars for the first internationally supervised election in the province. The deadline for the registration is Saturday, and to draw attention to the coming deadline, UNMIK yesterday sponsored a "race to register," a one-mile run down Pristina's main avenue with prizes for the winners. The race was a

ttended by few locals, however, and most of the 100,000 Serbs have refused to take part in the election scheduled for October. INCLUDEPICTURE d "/unwire/images/blank1.gif" Kosovo Newspapers Defy UN Rules In other news, Kosovo newspapers continue to disobey UN rules that outlaw the "naming and shaming" of war criminal suspects. Last week, the Albanian daily Dita published photographs of 15 Serbs it accuses of atrocities against ethnic Albanians. Last month, the newspaper ran an exclusive, claiming to have found a war criminal working for the UN and published his address. Peter Topoljski was later kidnapped and then HYPERLINK "/unwire/archives/UNWIRE000517.cfm" l "27" found stabbed to death (Nicholas Wood, HYPERLINK "http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_821000/821731.stm" BBC Online , 6 Jul). HYPERLINK l "contents" (Back to Contents) INCLUDEPICTURE d "/unwire/images/blank1.gif"

PRIVATE 24 FIJI: Hostages Freed After 56 Days; President Named Fiji's deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and 17 other political hostages were released today after being held for nearly two months by nationalist rebels who stormed the parliament building on 19 May and demanded an end to ethnic Indian political power (Reuters/South China Morning Post, 13 Jul). The HYPERLINK "http://www.scmp.com/News/Front/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000713161517978.asp" Associated Press reports that the hostage takers, led by George Speight, tearfully hugged their newly freed captives after a deal was struck answering some of the rebels' demands. Fiji's 50-member Great Council of Chiefs later named Ratu Josefa Iloilo -- who was Speight's nominee -- as president, and said they will meet tomorrow to pick two vice presidents. Freedom for the hostages followed a deal struck Sunday, in which the military agreed to abandon the country's multi-racial constitution, unseat Chaudhry and grant the rebels amnesty (A

P/South China Morning Post, 13 Jul). "The situation is pretty alarming," Chaudhry said when he returned home. "I am an optimist. Fiji is a great country, and if we have a future, we have to work together" ( HYPERLINK "http://www.scmp.com/News/Asia/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000713153556947.asp" Reuters /South China Morning Post II, 13 Jul). While Fiji's neighbors and trade union movement welcomed the hostages' release, Fijian Trades Union Congress Secretary Felix Anthony predicted that upheaval would continue despite the end of the hostage crisis. "(Chaudhry) is not going to be a guy who sits back and says that's the end of that," he said. "I expect him to stand up and fight. The battle is just going to begin" ( HYPERLINK "http://www.scmp.com/News/Asia/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000713192737773.asp" Reuters /South China Morning Post III, 13 Jul). The UN Security Council has stressed the need for a return to democratic rule in Fiji ( HYPERLINK "/unwire/archives/UNWIRE000615.cfm" l "23" UN

Wire , 15 Jun). UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned the coup leaders that they may be ostracized internationally ( HYPERLINK "/unwire/archives/UNWIRE000608.cfm" l "23" UN Wire , 8 Jun). HYPERLINK l "contents" (Back to Contents) INCLUDEPICTURE d "/unwire/images/blank1.gif"

PRIVATE 25 CYPRUS: UN Peace Talks Suspended For 12 Days The UN-sponsored Cyprus peace talks in Geneva were suspended yesterday for the next 12 days with little sign of progress toward settling the 26-year division of the island. Alvaro de Soto, the UN secretary-general's special adviser on Cyprus, said he had offered some "ideas" to the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders and asked them to respond on 24 July when the talks resume (Frances Williams, HYPERLINK "http://search.ft.com/search/multi/globalarchive.jsp?query=EUROPE%3A+Peace+Talks+Suspended&docId=000713000133&searchCat=1&offset=6&query=EUROPE%3A+Peace+Talks+Suspended&resultsShown=20&resultsToRequest=100" Financial Times , 13 Jul). Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, bristling at Greek criticism of his confederation proposals, accused Greece yesterday of trying to kill the talks. He said Greece should mind its own business instead of undermining the current round of indirect talks, which began on 5 July. Greek government spokesperson Dimitri

s Reppas said Monday that a leaked Turkish Cypriot policy document advocated a Cyprus confederation and revealed that the Turkish side had no intention of settling the Cyprus problem. "Who is he, deciding about the talks?" Denktash responded. "It is they (Greece) who continue supporting a so-called government which, under the agreement they have signed, is not the government of Cyprus." Turkish Cypriots want a two-state confederation which would imply recognition of the breakaway state in northern Cyprus. Greek Cypriots are adamant about not ceding sovereignty and want a bi-communal federation with a strong central government. This proposal has also been outlined in numerous UN resolutions ( HYPERLINK "http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/07/12/cyprus.talks.reut/index.html" Reuters /CNN.com, 12 Jul). De Soto renewed earlier UN calls for moderation. "I have reiterated today the secretary-general's appeal to the parties to play down the tone, the size, the content and the official rhetoric accompanying any

events that take place," de Soto said. De Soto noted that the parties had agreed to observe a strict press blackout regarding the proximity talks, which includes periods of recess. "The secretary-general sees the compliance of both sides with this requirement as a test of their cooperation with his discharge of the mandate of good offices entrusted to him," de Soto said ( HYPERLINK "http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/page2.html" l "3" UN Newservice , 12 Jul). HYPERLINK l "contents" (Back to Contents)