Briefing the Kosovo Transitional Council (KTC) about the visit, Dr. Kouchner said that the appointment of the special envoy would help put pressure on Belgrade regarding detainees held in Serbian prisons, according to a UNMIK press release.

He reiterated that the issue of detainees and missing persons was of paramount importance, but cautioned that the issue could not be linked to the return of the Serbs in Kosovo. He said he had taken the issue very seriously, especially in his attempts to get a special envoy.

Dr. Kouchner said he had also met twice with people protesting for action on detainees and missing persons, led by Shukri Klinaku of the LKCK party, who has resigned from the KTC over the issue.

The plan, agreed by the three Kosovo Albanian members of the Interim Administrative Council and by six representatives of the minorities, calls for a series of "confidence building" meetings between the communities both inside Kosovo and in neighbouring countries, the Deputy Special Representative for Humanitarian Affairs, Dennis McNamara, said today.

Describing the initiative as "very important", he said it was the first of its kind in Kosovo and for the region, where there are about 30,000 displaced Romas, Ashkalijas and Egyptians. "We think it's a concrete move forward which we hope might lead to a breakthrough in the return of the members of these communities to Kosovo in the coming months, " he added. "We believe this is a realistic, concrete and practical plan of action."

The plan envisages visits over the next two weeks by Albanian leaders to the Roma, Ashkalija and Egyptian communities around Kosovo, "to have a direct dialogue with their leadership," Mr. McNamara said. Following that, some of those leaders will be taken to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro and probably to Serbia to talk to their exile communities there, Mr. McNamara explained.

He said the idea was to have the community leaders visits both ways to build up confidence -- with the support of the Albanian leadership. "We will bring some of the Roma leaders from their displaced communities to have a look at Kosovo as well," he said.

Recognition by the Roma leaders that some members of their community had committed crimes against humanity during the recent conflict, and by the Albanian leadership that the community should not be held collectively responsible for these crimes, had been "fundamental" in getting agreement to the plan, Mr. McNamara said.

A British forensic team is also in Kosovo and will begin work on Saturday, while two other international teams from Sweden and Austria will begin work later this month, Mr. Paul Risley said.

"Altogether, we expect teams from at least seven countries to work through the summer and early [autumn] in Kosovo. Ambitiously, we expect to complete work at 300 identified gravesites across Kosovo," he said.

Mr. Risley said the Office of the Prosecutor will work closely with the Victim Recovery and Identification Commission (VRIC), established by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and which includes personnel from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). VRIC will tackle the identification of victims.

The signatories included the head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, the Deputy Special Representative for Humanitarian Affairs (UNHCR), Mr. Dennis McNamara, the commander of the international peacekeeping force (KFOR), General Joun Ortuno, and Bishop Artemije of the Serb National Council.

The establishment of the JCR represents the first major joint achievement resulting from the recent decision of the Serb National Council to join the Joint Interim Administrative Structure. The JCR is an "important step towards the establishment of peaceful co-existence and a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo," the signatories said, according to an UNMIK press release.

The signatories said they also looked forward to the close cooperation and future participation of other Kosovo communities in the work of the JCR. Dr. Kouchner said that he would ask the Mitrovica Serb leader, Oliver Ivanovic, to participate in the agreement.

The JCR will form committees to review, supervise and implement all aspects related to the return of an estimated 150,000 displaced Kosovo Serbs, and will involve coordination between the international security and civil presence. Donors will also be identified for return and reconstruction programmes.

A press release issued by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said the amendment to the regulation on Hotel, Food and Beverage Service tax lowers the threshold on the size of business which can be taxed from 15,000 deutsche marks ($6,938) to 10,000 deutsche marks ($4,625).

The regulation on the Establishment of a Presumptive Tax requires other businesses with an annual turnover of up to 60,000 deutsche marks ($27,751) to be taxed at a single fixed quota. Those with a turnover above 60,000 duetsche marks will be taxed at a fixed quota plus 3 per cent of gross receipts. Insurance companies will be required to pay 10 per cent of their gross premiums.

The regulation on Licensing and Regulation of the Broadcast Media in Kosovo will require all licence applicants to sign a Broadcast Code of Conduct to be issued by the Temporary Media Commissioner. The code stipulates that programs meet generally accepted community standards of civility and respect for the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity of Kosovo. The regulation would be in effect pending the establishment of a regulatory regime for broadcasting, the release said.

The regulations require the signature of the head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, to become law.

Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, who had just presented his report to the Security Council shortly after the return of his eight-member delegation from the area, was briefing reporters in New York.

The purpose of the visit, which ended yesterday after an intensive two-and-a-half days touring all parts of Kosovo, was for the members to see first-hand the challenges facing the UN in implementing its mandate under the Security Council Resolution 1244 and to exhort Kosovars to cease violence and support UN efforts for reconstruction and reconciliation.

Ambassador Chowdhury said that without such a visit to Kosovo it would not have been possible to comprehend the enormity of the task that the UN was facing in Kosovo.

He said his delegation's strong message to Kosovo communities to reject violence and promote peaceful co-existence was received "with a lot of understanding and a lot of support".

He said, however, the issue that kept coming up was the question of missing persons and detainees. "The Security Council cannot maintain its credibility unless we address this issue," he said.

He said the question of security and violence, as well as the return of refugees and displaced persons, were two other core issues that affected economic recovery and democratisation in Kosovo.

Speaking to journalists in Pristina yesterday, Ambassador Chowdhury also said that UNMIK needs more police and civilian staff. He said that while his delegation was impressed with improvements in law and order and efforts at building a local police force, it found a serious constraint with regard both to civilian police and civilian administrative staff.

He pledged to work to strengthen UNMIK. "We have to address this point when we are back in New York," he said.

The headship of the Joint Committee on Returns also includes the head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, the Deputy Special Representative for Humanitarian Affairs (UNHCR), Mr. Dennis McNamara, and the commander of the international peacekeeping force (KFOR), General Joun Ortuno. Members of the Committee include the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), UNMIK International Police, international project donors and Serb leaders of various regions of Kosovo.

Dr. Kouchner announced the formation of the Committee at a press conference yesterday in which the leader of the Security Council delegation visiting Kosovo, Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, said at the conclusion of their visit that his delegation encouraged the return of all refugees and displaced people to their homes.

Ambassador Chowdhury said, however, "we should also be able to receive them properly". The question of security, accommodation and livelihood was "very important", he said.

The eight-member Security Council delegation, which visited all major communities in Kosovo, met with Serb religious and community leaders at the main Orthodox Church in Gnjilane where the Serb population has shrunk from 12,000 to 800 since the end of the war in June. The movement of those who remain is possible only with an escort of international peacekeepers or police, according to UNMIK.

Serb community leaders told the delegation that while they believed the registration of all the population currently going on in the province was important, they were unable to advise their people to participate pending concrete signs of local Serbs beginning to return to Kosovo.