Annan condemns anti-Serb violence

Violence earlier this week in Gracanica highlighted the shaky security situation

UN chief Kofi Annan has condemned anti-Serb violence in Kosovo - a year after peacekeepers were sent into the province.

Despite advances, the UN still has much to do to make Kosovo safe

In a report to the Security Council, Mr Annan said recent vicious attacks on Serbs and other minorities appeared to be part of an orchestrated campaign by ethnic Albanian extremists.

He said the international community had not intervened in the province to make it a haven for revenge and crime.

His views were echoed by the US special envoy to the Balkans, James O'Brien, who described the killing of eight Serbs in the past week alone as "systematic".

"We believe that those responsible should be brought to justice as soon as possible," he said.

Change for the better

Mr Annan said much in Kosovo had changed for the better in the year since the Security Council authorised the Nato-led peacekeeping force to move in.

He cited the return of more than 800,000 refugees, the reconstruction of homes and an economy which shows signs of a vibrant recovery.

Ethnically-motivated attacks continue to put people in hospital

But he said a recent upsurge in violence had undermined the Serbs' confidence in the future.

Mr O'Brien, who has been visiting Kosovo's capital Pristina, said he met leading Kosovo Albanians and moderate Serb leaders to express US concern over the violence.

Kosovo Albanian leaders Ibrahim Rugova and Hashim Thaci pledged to work to counter the bloodshed.

"Acts of violence... especially those targeting the Serb community, are extremely disturbing," said Mr Rugova, the leading Kosovo Albanian moderate.

Mr O'Brien said all major leaders had promised to include an anti-violence platform in campaigning for local elections later this year.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the international community should be proud of its intervention in Kosovo.

"There is a long way to go, but I think we also have to remember how far we have come and how important it was that the international community took steps for Kosovo," Mrs Albright said.

Revenge

The ICRC's Andreas Wigger reviews the list of the missing

Anti-Serb violence - much of it in revenge for the crackdown on Albanians that left an estimated 10,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless - has led many Serbs to flee.

Less than half of the approximately 200,000 Serbs living in Kosovo two years ago remain.

Moderate Serbs ended their participation in the UN-supervised interim Kosovo government last Sunday to protest against the most recent wave of anti-Serb attacks.

Mr Annan also highlighted concerns about those Kosovans still detained in Serbia.

He said he was considering appointing a special envoy for missing persons.

The International Red Cross has published a list of more than 3,300 people it says are still missing as a result of the conflict in Kosovo.