Albanian and Serb community leaders take part in first meeting of Kosovo Transitional Council.
JULY 16 -- The United Nations brought Serb and Albanian political leaders together in Pristina on Friday in the first meeting of newly-formed Kosovo Transitional Council, marking a critical first step towards development of self-government in the province.

The Transitional Council is the highest political consultative body under the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), which holds executive authority. The Council gives the main political parties and ethnic groups an opportunity to have direct input into UNMIK's decision-making process. It is also a forum for achieving consensus on a broad range of issues related to civil administration, institution building, reconstruction and essential services.

In his opening remarks to the Council, the Secretary-General's new Special Representative for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, who heads UNMIK, outlined his agenda. Mr. Kouchner said he wants to make sure immediate humanitarian needs are met, guarantee essential public functions, especially law and order, lay foundations for economic recovery and development, and progressively build institutions of self-government.

During the first meeting, the Transitional Council agreed to form sub-groups to tackle the issue of prisoners and detainees, conduct joint visits to flashpoints such as Orohavac, Mitrovica and Gnjilane and make common television and radio appeals for restraint. The Council will meet again in nine days.

Mr. Kouchner and his predecessor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, chaired the meeting which was attended by six members of the Albanian community, two Serbs, one Moslem and one Turk along with UN officials and KFOR commander General Michael Jackson. However, Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova and his political party, the Democratic League of Kosovo known as the LDK did not attend. Mr. Kouchner said he hoped the LDK would reconsider its position.

Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is overseeing humanitarian operations in Kosovo, again drew attention to the critical situation for minorities. In many areas, Serbs are living under KFOR guard. In Prizren, the Orthodox seminary, which shelters 167 people with more arriving daily, has been under threat, despite a 24 hour protection by German KFOR troops.

New head of UN mission in Kosovo arrives in Pristina.
JULY 15 -- Bernard Kouchner, the Secretary-General's new Special Representative who will also head UNMIK, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, arrived in the provincial capital Pristina on Thursday.

I have an agenda", Kouchner told reporters at UNMIK's Pristina headquarters later in the day. "First to make sure that immediate humanitarian needs are met. Second to ensure essential public functions, specifically law and order. And third to lay the foundation for economic recovery and development. It's simple, but ambitious. The job can be done. As the highest international civilian official in Kosovo, Mr. Kouchner will oversee the UN-led international operation designed to heal the wounds of conflict and ultimately create a democratic form of autonomy.

The United Nations itself will set up the civil administration, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will be in charge of humanitarian assistance, the European Union will be responsible for reconstruction and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe will head up democratization and institution-building.

Mr. Kouchner, a minister in the French Government well-known for his humanitarian activities, was appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 2 July to lead UNMIK's operations.

Meanwhile, the man who set up UNMIK's advance team, acting Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello, met with Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova who returned to Kosovo earlier Thursday. A crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 Kosovars gathered around the UN mission headquarters chanting "Rugova, Rugova."

The two men discussed steps by the United Nations to put the civil administration in place and discussed Friday's planned first meeting of the Kosovo Transitional Council.  

In other developments in Kosovo, the recruitment of applicants will start Friday for the police training academy being set up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Forms for the future Kosovo Police Service will be distributed throughout the territory and applications will be screened in Pristina. Training is planned to begin in August. After graduating from the academy, the new recruits will receive on the job training by United Nations international police officers.

Security Council appeals to all parties in Kosovo to cooperate with UNMIK and KFOR.
JULY 15 -- The members of the Security Council Thursday appealed to all parties in Kosovo to cooperate with UNMIK and KFOR.

At a briefing by the U.N. Secretariat on the latest developments in Kosovo, they considered the Secretary General's report on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the report of the international security presence in Kosovo (KFOR). The members of the Council welcomed the report of the Secretary-General on UNMIK as well as the progress achieved in the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1224 (1999).

They also expressed their appreciation for the efforts being undertaken by UNMIK, including the advance work accomplished by Under Secretary-General Vieira de Mello and his team, as well as for the activities of KFOR in promoting security on the ground.

Secretary-General says for Kosovo to succeed, Balkans region must be brought back to health.
JULY 15 -- For Kosovo to really succeed the Balkans regions as a whole must be brought back to health, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday. In an address at Comenius University, the oldest college in Slovakia, where he is on an official visit, Mr. Annan said reconstruction in Kosovo would require recovery in the region as a whole.

The Secretary-General said a key challenge in Kosovo would be engaging the various political groupings in rehabilitation and reconciliation, which would improve as a sense of security takes root.  "This sense of security must take root among Serbs and other ethnic groups no less than the Kosovar Albanians, for we aspire to a multi-ethnic Kosovo. Mr. Annan said Kosovo would not be rebuilt in a month, or a year and the Balkans would not be restored by one organization or one group of Governments. The ability of the United Nations, or other organizations to do the job would depend entirely on the will of Member States to pledge the resources, he added.

Mr. Annan, who arrived in Bratislava on Thursday is on the first visit by a Secretary-General to Slovakia since it became independent in 1993.  The Secretary-General's first official meeting was with Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan, who is also his Special Envoy for the Balkans.

UN Kosovo Mission appeals for end to attacks on minorities.
JULY 14 -- Sergio Vieira de Mello, the acting Head of the UN Mission in Kosovo, on Wednesday expressed alarm at the continued high level of violence and intimidation directed at minorities throughout the province.

Killings, kidnappings, forced expulsions, house burnings and looting are a daily occurrence, said Mr. Vieria de Mello. "These are criminal acts. They cannot be excused by the suffering that has been inflicted in the past. Kosovo's future must be built on justice, not vengeance."

Mr. Vieira de Mello said KFOR soldiers and international police officers could not impose peace and tolerance without the cooperation of the local population. Statements by Kosovo's political leaders against the violence had not had an impact and they must take urgent and effective action to establish calm, he stressed.

Later on Wednesday, Mr. Vieira de Mello briefed Kosovo Serb leaders, Bishop Artemije and Momcilo Trajkovic, on actions by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to help protect Serbs. At the UN's request, KFOR troops searched for sites where the Kosovo Liberation Army were allegedly detaining prisoners. Bodies were found at one site and three Serbs and four Roma were freed from another site.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that Serb houses were being torched every day in the Prizren area. The town's Orthodox Church, which is caring for 167 displaced Serbs and Roma, also known as gypsies, has received threats and KFOR has stepped up patrols in the area.

In the provincial capital Pristina, KFOR evacuated 28 Serb refugees from a collective accommodation facility after two ethnic Serbs -- one from Bosnia and one from Croatia -- were reportedly kidnapped.  Approximately 500 Roma are now seeking shelter near the cemetery in Brekovac with new arrivals from the Coloni neighbourhood east of Djakovica, said UNHCR.

UNHCR urges aid agencies to begin construction of homes and damaged infrastructure in Kosovo.
JULY 14 -- With the vast majority of the Kosovo refugees already home, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is urging other agencies to begin immediate reconstruction of homes, apartment buildings and damaged infrastructure.

Since resuming operations in Kosovo on 13 June, UNHCR has put together a distribution infrastructure and is now focusing on its shelter programme before winter sets in.

According to initial surveys, 40,000 to 50,000 homes across Kosovo are uninhabitable. UNHCR is helping Kosovars start emergency repairs by supplying basic shelter kits of plastic sheeting, wood strips, nails and tools. Later, the focus will be on making homes winter-proof.

In other developments, the Geneva-based United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its Habitat Balkans Task Force is sending experts to the region to conduct an environmental assessment of the worst damaged industrial sites, primarily in Serbia. Later missions will assess environmental damage to the Danube river as well as the longer term impact of weapons used in the conflict on human health.

Secretary-General outlines comprehensive strategy for UN mission in Kosovo to restore shattered province.
JULY 13 -- Saying the international community faced an "unprecedented challenge" in Kosovo, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has outlined a comprehensive strategy for the United Nations mission which will help to restore the shattered province.

In a report released at UN Headquarters on Tuesday, the Secretary-General describes his concept for implementing the mandate of the UNInterim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) as "novel". Fourinternational organizations and agencies will work together in one operation, under one leadership to create the normalcy under which all Kosovars can enjoy the benefits of democracy and self-governance, he says.

Under Mr. Annan's plan, the United Nations will be in charge of civil administration, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will head up humanitarian relief, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will lead institution building and the European Union will oversee reconstruction. As head of UNMIK, Bernard Kouchner, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, will be the highest-ranking international civilian official in Kosovo.

The Secretary-General's strategy for UNMIK envisions five integrated phases. First, the Mission will set up administrative structures, deploy international civilian police, provide emergency assistance for refugees, restore public services and train local police and judiciary. It will also develop a phased economic recovery plan and aim to establish a self-sustaining economy.

The second phase will focus on administration of social services and utilities and consolidation of the rule of law, says the report.  Administration of such sectors as health and education could be transferred to local and possibly regional authorities. Preparations for elections will also begin.

During a third phase, UNMIK will prepare for the elections to what may be termed the Kosovo Transitional Authority and in the fourth phase help elected Kosovo representatives organize and establish provisional institutions for democratic and autonomous self-government.

A concluding fifth phase will depend on a final settlement. Under the Security Council resolution, which set up the international operations in Kosovo, UNMIK will oversee the transfer of authority to institutions established under a political settlement.

Describing the current situation on the ground, the Secretary-General notes that tensions remain high in some areas in Kosovo and expresses particular concern about the continued harassment of minority groups. He strongly encourages all ethnic communities and parties in Kosovo to show restraint and tolerance and cooperate fully with the international community.

On the humanitarian front, Mr. Annan says priority must be given to providing shelter and rebuilding damaged or destroyed homes before winter. Significant financial resources and personnel, including experts in various fields, will be required immediately, including money to pay the salaries of local public servants.

"If we are not able to meet this requirement, we will face a collapse of the public sector," the Secretary-General says, adding that this could have tremendous implications for social order and jeopardize the success of the mission.

Head of Yugoslav war crimes tribunal says charges against Milosevic could be expanded.
JULY 13 -- Louise Arbour, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia says current indictments against Slobodan Milosevic for crimes against humanity in Kosovo could be expanded.

Justice Arbour, who is on a two-day visit to alleged war crimes sites in Kosovo, was speaking at a news conference in Pristina. "There's every reason to believe that we will be in a position to expand on the charges that we have brought to date," she said.

In late May, the Tribunal indicted President Slobodan Milosevic and four senior Yugoslav officials with crimes against humanity, including murder and mass deportation of ethnic Albanians.

The Prosecutor said she expected the work of the forensic teams in Kosovo to continue until the fall. "It is absolutely critical that we try to preserve as much of the evidence that we cannot access immediately, and at the same time that we not get distracted from an investigative agenda that is focused and very well targeted, she said.

Arbour also pointed that the work of her office was clearing the ground for the Prosecutor of the future International Criminal Court.

Plight of minorities in Kosovo a prime concern of UN mission.
JULY 12 -- The head of the United Nations mission in Kosovo on Monday told several thousand Romas or gypsies living in desperate conditions outside Pristina that enormous efforts were being made to ensure respect for everyone's human rights and urged them not to give up and leave the province.

Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Secretary-General's acting Special Representative, visited the Roma, who have been displaced from their homes and are living in a school in Kosovo Polje on the outskirts of Pristina. A UN spokesman who visited the location, described it as "truly an appalling site". Plans are underway to move the Romas to a new tent village being erected by KFOR, the international military force, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

During the meeting, Roma representatives stressed that they could not imagine resuming life in Kosovo because of the fear of continued victimization. While acknowledging that the Roma had been targeted, Mr. Vieira de Mello emphasized that every effort was being made to encourage the Albanians, who had just suffered through great terror, to restrain themselves and not to resort to violence.

Mr. Vieira de Mello underscored that it was up to the Albanian leadership to demonstrate their commitment to a Kosovo where human rights and the rule of law for all was protected or they risked losing the international community's commitment and support. He said that the presence of KFOR and the United Nations was a testimony of an enormous investment made by the international community in the effort to ensure respect for human rights in Kosovo.

In other developments, a UN human rights expert told reporters in Pristina that the International community could not allow acts of vengeance to continue and stressed the importance of bringing perpetrators of crimes to justice. 

Jiri Dientsbier, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, said that more needed to be done to establish freedom of movement and clarify the issue of property rights. Mr. Dientsbier, who has just finished a five-day visit to Kosovo, said he would intervene with the authoritiesin Belgrade on behalf of Kosovo Albanians in Serbian prisons.

Meanwhile, in what my prove to be a model for efforts to reconstitute the workforce in Kosovo's public institution, 58 Albanians and 54 Serbs resumed work in Pristina's municipal building. They are the first of 400 workers who will be returning to work over the next 90 days under an agreement which provides for the return to work of members of various ethnic groups.

UNICEF survey finds half of Kosovo's primary schools destroyed or severely damaged.
JULY 12 -- A preliminary survey of Kosovo's primary schools by the UN children's Fund (UNICEF) has found widespread destruction with more than 43 percent of 394 schools completely destroyed or severely damaged.

So far, UNICEF has surveyed schools in 16 of Kosovo's 29 municipalities and found 95 percent need some form of repairs. After looting and destruction of furniture, schools have requested 28,000 desks, 58,000 chairs and 2,000 blackboards.

There are around 1,000 primary schools in Kosovo, serving children between 7 and 14 years of age. UNICEF, which will survey the remaining schools this month, has committed itself to providing every primary school age child in Kosovo the opportunity to attend classes at the beginning of the academic year in September.