The Special Envoy, appointed initially for six months, will focus mainly on addressing the nature of the problem and seeking comprehensive solutions, rather than intervening on individual cases, the High Commissioner said in a statement issued today.

He will support the work of the main international actors concerned with these issues, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights.

The Special Envoy will seek to facilitate communication among all parties and thereby contribute toward a reduction of tensions in Kosovo and elsewhere in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the statement said.

The head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, welcomed the appointment. "We hope that Ambassador Amneus will tackle the issues which have devastated the lives of so many families in Kosovo and which have been a serious stumbling block on Kosovo's road to democracy," he said.

Ambassador Amneus has been working in the diplomatic service of Sweden since 1961. In the early 1990's, he served as Ambassador for Human Rights based in Stockholm. In 1996 and 1997, he was Chairman of the Joint Implementation Committee on Human Rights with United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) in Vukovar, Croatia.

The "Day Against Violence" is a follow-up to the "Pact Against Violence" adopted by 40 representatives of Kosovo Serb and Albanian communities who met 21-23 July in Airlie, Virginia, at a conference convened by the United States Institute of Peace.

The press statement issued by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said the IAC members also agreed to visit Pec on Monday as part of the "Roma Platform for Action", a programme for raising awareness of issues affecting the Roma minorities. They will be accompanied by the head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, the commander of the international peacekeeping force (KFOR), Lieutenant General Juan Ortuño, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees special envoy, Mr. Eric Morris and the publisher of a local newspaper, Koha Ditore, Mr.Veton Surroi.

Acting Deputy Special Representative for Reconstruction Alan Pearson briefed the IAC on the fiscal outlook for the year 2001. He stressed the need for a speedy endorsement of the regulation establishing the Department of Trade and Industry.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said today in a statement that the 10-day CAC period identified a number of gaps and errors on the lists which are now being rectified by the OSCE elections department. OSCE is the lead agency for democracy and institution building within the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

The CAC period is a standard pre-election procedure designed to give eligible voters an opportunity to confirm that their own entries on the provisional voters' lists are correct. If the name of any eligible voter still does not appear on the Final Voters List, there are standard mechanisms such as "conditional ballots" which can be utilized to enable them to cast their vote on election day, the OSCE statement.

Tomorrow, OSCE Head of Mission Daan Everts will outline the process currently under way to correct and finalize the voters' list and the means available to ensure that no eligible voter is denied the right to vote.

Mr. Everts will also announce details of an OSCE training workshop, to be conducted by trainers from Canada and Panama, beginning on Monday for women political candidates seeking office in Kosovo's municipal elections. Under the municipal election rules in Kosovo, at least five of the first 15 candidates on each list must be women.

The statement said this training represents a unique opportunity for the women of Kosovo to gain the knowledge they need to run effective election campaigns and strengthen their understanding of democratic municipal governance.

A spokeswoman for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) told journalists in Pristina today that about 2,000 troops have been approved as part of "an ongoing negotiation with the nations to provide those troops."

"What nation will provide those troops is still being worked on and negotiated at this time," Susan Manuel added in an answer to a question.

Kosovo is going to the polls on 28 October to elect members of 30 municipal assemblies from a list of 5,500 candidates.

Ms. Manuel said there will be police in every polling station and UNMIK Police is working with the UNMIK special unit on political violence on strategies for offering special protection for candidates who could potentially be endangered.

Currently, there are more than 42,000 troops from over 30 countries deployed in Kosovo and UNMIK has more than 4,000 civilian police deployed in all five regions of the province.

The victims will be given a "dignified burial," a spokeswoman of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) told journalists in Pristina today. Susan Manuel said the UNMIK Victim and Identification Commission (VRIC) will sponsor the burial operation, which will take place in the area of Makoc, outside Pristina.

The VRIC, which is bearing all expenses, has asked the assistance of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) who have volunteered to work on the project with General Agim Ceku's personal supervision. KPC will also provide 300 coffin bearers.

"We are definitely treating the case not as an accident," a spokesman of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) told journalists in Pristina today.

Susan Manuel said charges would be filed "in the coming day or days," adding that cases believed to have an ethnic or political background were handled by an international judiciary.

The incident, which occurred on Sunday, provoked an outcry of condemnations from the head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer who was visiting Kosovo at the time. It also sparked protests by Serbs in Grecanica.

Tensions were still high yesterday in the village of Crkvena Vodica, the scene of the hit-and-run, a spokesman of the international peacekeeping force, KFOR, reported today. Major Scott Slaten said KFOR soldiers advised local Kosovar Albanian drivers to avoid the area until tensions were reduced.

A UNMIK statement issued on Monday said the incident was part of a long list of attacks and intimidation of Kosovo's minority communities.

Dr. Kouchner with German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer

"We want real involvement because we have had condemnation several times before," said Dr. Bernard Kouchner, head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

He was speaking at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer just two days after one Kosovo Serb child had been killed and three others injured by a Kosovo Albanian hit and run driver. That day also saw an elderly Kosovo Serb farmer shot in the village where a week earlier there had been a grenade attack on a group of Kosovo Serbian youngsters.

Dr. Kouchner's call was echoed by Foreign Minister Fischer, who was on a one-day visit to Kosovo.

"I think there must be a strong condemnation from all political parties that such actions are unacceptable," he said, describing the attacks on children as "barbarian".

Earlier, Mr Fischer held a meeting with Dr. Kouchner in which they discussed the security situation, as well as the run-up to the municipal elections in October. In a separate meeting with Albanian political leaders, Mr. Fischer again brought up the issue of Kosovo Serbs and Romas. He told the leaders that their record of dealing with minorities had to be improved.

The protest meeting concluded without any reported incidents or violence and the situation remained "calm and peaceful," a spokesman for the international peacekeeping force, KFOR, said in a statement today.

Major Scott Slaten also reported that the bodies of two Kosovar Albanian men were discovered on the road between the villages of Radoste and Gede late last night. The men appeared to have died as a result of gun shot wounds. United Nations Interim Administration Mission for Kosovo (UNMIK) police are investigating the case.

"It has been a bloody and tragic weekend for Kosovo," Dr. Kouchner said in a statement issued by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). "Those who commit such acts are killing their future, the future of Kosovo."

In the worst incident in Skulanovo village near Lipjan on Sunday, a speeding car hit a group of Serb children, killing one and injuring three others. A Kosovo Albanian was being questioned by police in connection with the incident.

Later the same day, 80-year-old Pavle Nedelkovic was killed by machine gunfire while he was tending his cattle in Crkvena Vodica, a village near Obilic where a grenade was thrown into a group of children earlier this month.

"Kosovo's people have got to stop the killings. The right-minded people of Kosovo cannot allow terror and violence to take hold," Dr. Kouchner said.

The UNMIK statement said the latest incidents were part of a long list of attacks and intimidation of Kosovo's minority communities. The same weekend saw the regular UN train, which serves as transport for minorities, stoned by Kosovo Albanian youths.

Dr. Kouchner said UNMIK was working hard to build the foundations and framework for democracy in Kosovo. "But no democracy can take root in the continuing climate of hate," he said.