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Talks fail to end Kosovo blockade

The Kosovo Albanians left a meeting in the southern town of Orahovac after once more refusing to allow a contingent of Russian troops into the town.

The local ethnic Albanian leader, Agim Hasku, said the talks yielded no agreement nor compromise which could clear roadblocks by villagers barring the Russians.

He said negotiators from the K-For peacekeeping force had offered nothing. "If they offer something we will find a solution to the problem."

Russian anger

Moscow condemned the villagers' action as a "clear act of defiance of the international community." Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Avdeyev was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying that Russia was determined to see the deployment through.

The people of Orahovac have blocked roads with tractors, trucks and cars to stop the soldiers entering.

The Russians are supposed to be taking over from Dutch and German troops as part of the K-For peacekeeping force.

But the ethnic Albanians argue that the soldiers will side with Orahovac's 2,000-strong Serb population and allege that Russian mercenaries fought with the Serbs in the town during the Kosovo conflict.

A Dutch officer said there would be no swift conclusion to the stand-off, while K-For spokesman Major Roland Lavoie said: "Our agenda is to deploy the Russian contingent within two weeks."

The Serb population are keen for the Russians to take up their duties, as they trust them to offer protection against any reprisals from the Albanian community.

Meanwhile the international administrator in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, has ruled out creating separate ethnic zones for Serbs and Albanians - a process known as cantonisation.

The proposal was made last week by a Serbian member of the advisory body - the Kosovo Transitional Council - as a way of protecting Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo from ethnic Albanian reprisals.

After rejecting it, Mr Kouchner commented: "Cantonisation is not a good word - it reminds us of a lot of bad things."

New protection promised

He stressed that the main point must be to provide security for the Serbs, and to encourage those who had fled to come back.

About 30,000 Serbs remain in Kosovo out of a pre-war population of around 200,000.

Mr Kouchner added that a new plan to protect the Serbian community would be presented next week.

Serbian leaders were disappointed that their proposal had not been taken on board, but the Albanians described it as unacceptable.

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Russia threatens Kosovo pullout (20 Aug 99 | Europe)
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