Quoting figures from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is counting the ballots, the spokesman said the LDK had won approximately 58 per cent of the vote. The OSCE is a partner of the UN Interim Administrative Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

According to the OSCE, its Counting Centre in Pristina is still processing

ballots cast by absentee and out-of-country voters, as well as by those who participated in the Mission's Special Needs Voting Programme.

OSCE is expected to release the next set of "preliminary" results about 5-7 days following the elections. The final certified election outcome and seat allocations will be available 10-12 days after the voting, the OSCE said.

A Kosovar woman casts her ballot in Prizren.

"At a time of democratic transition throughout the Balkans, the people of Kosovo have shown the maturity and responsibility in carrying out their democratic duty," a spokesman for Mr. Annan told a press briefing at United Nations Headquarters in New York. "The Secretary-General looks forward to the announcement of the results."

In Pristina, Bernard Kouchner, the head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), congratulated the people and political leaders on a political campaign that was "almost violence-free."

"One year and a half ago, as you struggled back to rebuild your lives, who would have known that in such a short time the people of Kosovo would have prepared themselves for this very big step toward democracy and toward self-government?" Dr. Kouchner said in a special message at the end of the vote on Saturday. "All of you should be proud and uplifted, as I am."

At the same time, the UNMIK chief expressed his regret over the absence of Kosovo Serbs from the election. "It was their choice not to participate, but it was a choice made under the pressure of the old regime, Milosevic's regime," Dr. Kouchner said. He stressed, however, that he would do everything in his power to enable the Kosovo Serbs to take part in the new Kosovo. He noted that he would be naming Serb members to all the Municipal Assemblies in the areas where they lived, and pointed out that the UN Mission may hold bi-elections next year in municipalities where Serbs formed the vast majority of the population.

Calling the elections "one of the most significant steps" in implementing the mandate entrusted to the United Nations, the Secretary-General urged everyone in Kosovo to "accept and respect" the results of the vote in the true spirit of democracy, a spokesman for Mr. Annan said today in a statement released at UN Headquarters in New York.

"Should the voting be free and fair, the people of Kosovo will have shown the world that they are politically mature and that they can express their will in a democratic manner," spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said, adding that the international community would be watching the vote "with great interest."

Once the results of the vote are certified by Dr. Bernard Kouchner, the head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Mr. Annan and his staff will begin the gradual transfer of several administrative responsibilities from UNMIK to the newly elected municipal leaders of Kosovo, the spokesman said.

Kosovo's 901,000 registered voters will be going to 1,464 polling stations casting their ballots for some 5,500 candidates for 920 seats in 30 municipal assemblies.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a partner in the UN Interim Administrative Mission in Kosovo, will oversee the polling, counting and certification of ballots. Some 4,000 observers are expected to take part in the effort, with the UN Mission police and KFOR providing security.

Speaking at yesterday's meeting of the Interim Administrative Council, Bernard Kouchner reminded all IAC members that violence during municipal elections would harm all of Kosovo. The UNMIK chief also expressed shock at the rocket attack on Monday night on a Serb-inhabited apartment block in the Ulpijana section of Pristina.

Addressing the question of whether national flags should be allowed at polling stations during the vote, Dr. Kouchner re-affirmed the position of the UN Mission and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that only their flags could be raised. This is necessary, he said, "if we want to convince world opinion that these elections were fully impartial." He also reminded the IAC that flying national flags would be a violation of the administrative procedures to which the parties had agreed.

"International observers would certainly make note of national flags flying or any incidents they inspired," he said, urging the party leaders to use their influence to help avoid violence, which he said would set back Kosovo's progress towards self-government.

Meanwhile, the UN Mission said today that its police force had arrested two men at a political rally yesterday in Urosevac/Ferizaj. One man carried a loaded weapon without authorization, while the other threatened the Kosovo Police officer making the arrest. The two men are now being detained while UNMIK police prepare charges.

Justice Goldstone told journalists that the Commission had come to the conclusion that it was "not realistic or justifiable" to expect Kosovo Albanians to accept rule from Belgrade after the ethnic cleansing by Serb forces and terrible human rights violations that took place in Kosovo.

At the same, he said, Serbs and other minorities have absolute rights to protection and to be able to live peacefully as they have done in the past.

He said Kosovo should become independent subject to the fulfillment of a number of conditions, which may take many years to fulfil. He said there should be good faith in negotiations with neighbours and the Balkans in general on Kosovo's political independence and an acceptably democratic constitution.

In addition, there should be sufficient assurances to ensure that Serbs, Roma and other minorities in Kosovo can live in absolute safety and protection of their human rights and that those forced to leave can return.

The Commission, comprised of members from11 countries, is independent of governments and international organizations. Its report and conclusions are unanimous, Justice Goldstone said.

UNMIK's Department of Justice also said that when compared to other developing democracies, the re-establishment of the criminal justice system in Kosovo "has been carried out in an exceptionally short period."

The department was responding to the report, Kosovo: A Review of the Criminal System, published this week by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The report said the Kosovo criminal justice systems fell short of international standards and that there was "clear and compelling evidence" of bias by the courts against Kosovo Serbs.

In a statement issued in Pristina, the department said that since the period covered by the OSCE report, 140 more judges and prosecutors have been sworn in, bringing the total number to 405. "Nine international judges and three international prosecutors have been assigned to hear the most sensitive cases, with ethnic backgrounds, which has already reduced dramatically any chance of bias as charged in the SCE report. Within one month there should be 12 international judges and five prosecutors. "

The statement also said the OSCE failed to place its observations and criticism in the context of post-conflict Kosovo. "Taking into account the historical, human and economic environment in which the Kosovo judiciary was set up is crucial in understanding the challenges UNMIK and the judicial system has faced throughout the past 14 months."

In June 1999, the statement said, UNMIK was tasked with setting up an entire judiciary "where no precedents existed, where the personnel had not worked in a decade and where resources were completely insufficient."

In a report published today, the OSCE Legal Systems Monitoring Section states that there is "clear and compelling evidence" of bias by the courts against Kosovo Serb defendants, in particular. It also states that some provisions of applicable law may conflict with human rights standards.

The report, Kosovo: A Review of the Criminal Justice System, points out that persons have been detained in violation of international standards as there exists no appropriate legal framework to challenge illegal detentions. Courts and authorities have also adopted inconsistent approaches to the applicable law.

The various sources of law used in Kosovo create confusion as to which law to apply and how to apply them. In addition, the continuing climate of ethnic conflict in Kosovo impacts on the impartiality of courts, the report says.

The report, whose findings have been submitted to the head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), says that vulnerable groups, such as juveniles and victims of sexual violence, require enhanced protection.

The report, however, notes the successes made by UNMIK, including the establishment in less than one year a functioning judicial system, the appointment of international judges and prosecutors, and provision of guidance to courts on applicable law, including international human rights standards, translation and interpretation support services.

On the subject of Kosovo, President Vojislav Kostunica and UN Special Envoy Eduard Kukan covered Yugoslavia's cooperation with the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the issue of Kosovo Albanian prisoners detained in Serbia.

President Kostunica and the UN official also discussed ways of enhancing Yugoslavia's participation in the UN and other organizations.

Mr. Kukan, a national of Slovakia, was appointed Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Balkans in May 1999.

In a statement issued today after holding a special session to discuss political changes in Belgrade, the IAC said that many challenges remain ahead for the people of Kosovo and for the international community working in Kosovo, such as the fate of the detained persons in Serbia and of the missing persons of all communities.

The IAC expressed hope that the changes that are currently taking place in Belgrade will be the first step of a democratization process that will contribute to the stabilization of the entire region.

It also welcomed the statement by the head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, that the Security Council resolution 1244 calling for the development of substantial autonomy for Kosovo will continue to be fully implemented. In this respect, the IAC said, the successful conduct of free and fair democratic municipal elections on 28 October will mark a major step in building Kosovo institutions.

The IAC said it was "dedicated to work on creating the necessary conditions to hold Kosovo-wide elections as soon as possible."

In a statement issued today, UNMIK said lack of adequate accommodation and the potential overcrowding of temporary shelters were critical issues facing UNMIK and international donors as another winter approaches.

Dr. Kouchner called for a moratorium on forced and induced return following a meeting yesterday in which the inter-agency Working Group on Returnees presented a policy paper on the repatriation of Kosovar Albanians to representatives of the various liaison offices in Pristina.

Some 82,000 Kosovars had returned by the end of September, of whom nearly 9,000 had been forcibly repatriated. UNMIK said even if the monthly return rate -- about 15,000 in August -- moderates over the next few months, Kosovo may be faced with absorbing more than 100,000 returnees this year alone.

The KTC members said a change in Belgrade does not mean an automatic solution to the problems of Kosovo, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said in a statement.

The statement said Kosovo Albanian members expressed reservations about the lifting of sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, especially without linking it to the release of all Kosovo Albanians in Serbian jails and information on the missing persons.

However, Serb members opposed the linkage between lifting of sanctions and release of prisoners, pointing out that while Albanian prisoners must be released, something should also be done about the Serbs missing or detained in Kosovo.

UNMIK said the members supported handing over Serbian war criminals, including deposed President Slobodan Milosevic, to the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia.

The Centre is an effort led by UNMIK, with the participation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC), UNMIK said in a statement.

While missing persons include both Kosovo Albanians and Serbs, those detained in Serbian jails are mostly Kosovo Albanians, according to Dr. Kouchner. He said the Centre will support families and "give all that is necessary in terms of economic, psychological and human support".

The ICRC will take reports on missing persons and provide information on prisoners' conditions and visits with family members, as well as psychological referral for family members.

The UNMIK police will receive reports and information on missing persons and provide results of ante-mortem investigations. An OSCE representative will provide information and assistance on the identification of bodies, as well as forensic expertise.

Answering a question, Dr. Kouchner said he had offered to Belgrade to take back all the detained persons in Kosovo. "I hope they'll offer to us a bouquet of flowers for democracy, with the liberation of all prisoners."

During his visit to the country, Dr. Kouchner met with President Trajkovski, Prime Minister Georgievski and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrov. Their discussions focused on railroads and air communications, improvement of border crossing facilities, power supply, the regional situation and status of the Mission Agreement between the UN and the FYR of Macedonian, UNMIK said in a statement.

Dr. Kouchner also exchanged views with the country's leaders on the recent developments in Belgrade, the UN Mission said.

In a joint statement, UNMIK's Department of Civil Security and Emergency Preparedness, KPC and the international peacekeeping force (KFOR), said they would not tolerate such incidents.

Ahmet Sijariq, a staff member of the Department of Civil Security and Emergency Preparedness was badly beaten by four unidentified men in Klina, west of Pristina, as he was traveling to Pristina from Peja, where he had been arranging testing for candidates from non-Albanian communities to join the KPC.

Mr. Sijariq, who has extensive links with the non-Albanian communities around Kosovo, serves as the liaison between the minority communities and the KPC, and facilitates the application of those candidates who find it difficult to approach the emergency response agency directly.

"The KPC, UNMIK and KFOR made a genuine commitment that the KPC be a multi-ethnic organization, " said the joint statement. "An attack on that effort is an attack on the KPC and all of Kosovo. We continue to encourage eligible members of all communities to apply to the KPC, and we will do all we can to ensure their full acceptance, participation and security."

The 5,000-member KPC includes 500 posts reserved for members of minority communities. So far approximately 100 of those posts have been filled.

"We have to maintain the same military commitment and the same economic engagement for some time to come," Dr. Kouchner told a meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union in Luxembourg.

He told the 15 foreign ministers of the European Union it would be wrong to assume that with the victory of the opposition in Serbia, the inter-ethnic conflict in Kosovo would come to an end and the situation in the province would improve from one day to the next. "Much will depend on the attitude of the new government in Belgrade," he said.

Dr. Kouchner said it was his intention to establish direct contacts with the new Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, who has invited Kouchner to meet him.

He cautioned that Kosovo remains a society in crisis, with deep inter-ethnic hatred, driven in part by the fate of thousands of missing persons and detainees. In his view, Dr. Kouchner said the lifting of sanctions on Serbia should be linked to concrete progress on this issue. "We need a gesture from the new democratic government. We want dozens of illegally detained prisoners to be released, and [human rights activist] Vlora Brovina to be freed," he said.

Dr. Kouchner also said that it was no secret that Albanians wanted independence. Therefore, he warned, to try to solve the final status of Kosovo now could lead anew to open conflict. "This is why I am convinced we… have to accelerate the process of defining substantial autonomy for Kosovo and developing institutions of self-government, with the Kosovars sharing more and more responsibilities in the administration of Kosovo."

He said with this in mind, he had proposed a "pact" to the people of Kosovo, starting with the municipal elections on 28 October, followed by the start of a discussion on developing central institutions of self-government.

Dr. Kouchner said he intended to start a meaningful dialogue with the new government to begin work on resolving crucial issues facing Kosovo, including detainees in Serbia and the thousands of missing people.

Echoing the statement issued earlier in the day by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Dr. Kouchner said FRY could now take its place in Europe as a democracy and "the years of terrible conflict can end, and healing can begin." However, he cautioned that many challenges remained ahead for the people of Kosovo and for the international community working in Kosovo.

"UNMIK will continue to implement our mandate under Security Council resolution 1244, to prepare Kosovo for substantial autonomy," he said.

He said the people of Kosovo had suffered greatly in the past from the former regime in Belgrade. They have not yet recovered and the attention of the international community must not be diverted from the tasks at hand in Kosovo, he said.

In another development, two British police officers working as part of UNMIK, who had been arrested in Montenegro by the FRY armed forces more than two months ago, were released today.

The move was welcomed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan as "encouraging." A spokesman for Mr. Annan said the Secretary-General called for an early release of the remaining Canadian and Dutch nationals still under detention in the FRY.

Mr. Dienstbier is reported to have stated yesterday that "the only possible deal, and the most important thing for Mr. Milosevic is to have guarantees that if he leaves power he will not be prosecuted and will not spend the rest of his life in prison."

Dr. Kouchner said there could be no peace and reconciliation in Kosovo until those indicted with human rights violations are brought to justice.

Dr. Kouchner expressed his concern that such comments could severely damage the confidence of the people of Kosovo in the commitment of the United Nations to human rights principles and the punishment of persons responsible for the atrocities.

He said the indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indicates that President Milosevic bears criminal responsibility for the atrocities committed in Kosovo during the armed conflict in 1998-99.

"The families of these victims are still suffering today as are the families of thousands of missing persons from Kosovo. Furthermore, the Milosevic regime continues to hold hundreds of prisoners from Kosovo in Serbia proper for political reasons," he said.

Dr. Kouchner said it was his duty as the highest ranking UN official in Kosovo to directly reassure the people of Kosovo of the UN's commitment to bring to justice all suspected perpetrators of violations of international humanitarian law.

Yesterday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the Special Rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights acted in their personal capacity and did not represent the views of the Secretary-General or any intergovernmental organ. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the ICTY stated that there was no intention to withdraw the indictment against President Milosevic.

Dr. Bernard Kouchner, the head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), was speaking yesterday at a town hall meeting in Podujevo, north of Pristina. "Offer me democratic elections without violence and discrimination, and I'll help you find money to rebuild Kosovo," he said. "UNMIK will help you to get self-governance. This is the pact I offer you."

He urged the people of Kosovo not to ruin their future with ethnic hatred or violence in the community, between parties or between people. He also told them of the opening on 12 October of a Detained and Missing Persons Bureau, announced earlier.

The town hall meeting was preceded by a visit to a housing project funded by a Kuwaiti non-governmental organization, the Islamic World Committee, which provided houses for more than 800 people including 145 families of widows and orphans.

Briefing the Interim Administrative Council (IAC) yesterday, the head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, said the bureau will be closely linked with the IAC and the Kosovo Transitional Council, according to UNMIK spokeswoman Susan Manuel.

Ms. Manuel said in a press briefing in Pristina today that the bureau would be staffed initially by UNMIK, with participation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, UNMIK police and the International Committee for the Red Cross.

"However, local experts will be appointed to the bureau, and members of the local community will eventually take over full responsibility for its work," she said.

The bureau will have its main office in Pristina and resource centres around Kosovo, she added.

Briefing members of the Kosovo Transitional Council (KTC), the co-head of the Department of Education and Science, Michael Daxner, said that teachers training will be reorganized with help from experts from around the world and a large donation from Canada.

His department was trying to raise the pre-primary school attendance from 2.8 per cent to 5.5 per cent this year. The technical schools were trying to introduce new subjects like business administration, which would be useful for students in a modern economy.

Mr. Daxner was responding to some of the issues raised at the KTC meeting by the Working Group on Education. The head of the Working Group, Januz Salihaj, expressed his opposition to reducing the number of years in primary school from nine to five. He expressed concern that in many schools there were 45 or more students in every class, which affected the quality of education.

Mr. Salihaj had also rainsed concern about the lack of proper teacher training and the fact that in technical schools fewer and fewer students were turning to subjects such as mining, geology and chemistry.

Another member of the Working Group, Dragan Velic, lamented the fact that the Serb schools did not have enough teachers and students.

The task force has brought several generators to essential facilities in Zvecan and more are on the way, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said today.

UNMIK officials said the fire was caused by arson and a full investigation is under way. The fire, which covered 200 square metres of the Trepca complex, was put out around midnight on Saturday by local fire fighters, UNMIK and the international peacekeeping force (KFOR). They had to contend with an unruly crowd who threw stones at UNMIK fire officials and burned the car of one UNMIK staff member who was also assaulted. The situation in Zvecan was reported as tense, UNMIK said.

"Extremists have worked hard to damage the community and livelihoods of Zvecan," said UNMIK senior adviser Eric Chevallier. "However, we are determined to protect the community in this emergency phase, as well as over the long term."

The task force is led by acting UNMIK Regional Administrator Jim Fitt and consists of UNMIK officials, staff managing the Trepca complex, KFOR and UNMIK police.