A German team was pumping the acid from the leaking tank into other tanks but it the leak is "continuing to cause serious problems", said Claire Trevena, a spokeswoman of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). "We have warned the international bodies dealing with water pollution and river pollution, " she said.

The acid started leaking on Tuesday, prompting UNMIK emergency personnel, troops of the international peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) and the Kosovo Protection Corps to truck over 150 tons of lime to neutralize the acid that was being contained in a large catch basin

Speaking during one of his series of town hall meetings, Dr. Bernard Kouchner said in Obilic, north-west of Pristina, that building a democratic Kosovo without fear and discrimination must be their main objective, in order to show the world that they are ready for self-governance.

"If you succeed to have local elections freely, openly and without violence, UNMIK (the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) will help you to go to the next step of self-governance," he said.

He told the crowd that they "were brave enough to fight for freedom, and you will be brave enough to fight for peace and democracy."

Unfortunately, he noted, events of the past few days showed that violence had spread from inter-ethnic crime to violence between Albanians, referring to the murder two days ago of the Pristina architect Rexhep Luci.

Earlier, Dr. Kouchner met with Kosovo Serb representatives and discussed security and employment issues in the three predominantly Serb communities of Plementina, Babin Most and Crkvena.

Talking to a crowd of more than 1,000 people in Skenderaj, in north central Kosovo, at his fifth town hall meeting, Dr. Bernard Kouchner stressed that free and fair elections as a result of political dialogue were the most important test for the future of a peaceful Kosovo without violence.

Local participants told Dr. Kouchner that their main concerns were the reconstruction of the economy and improvement of their living conditions. The reconstruction programme was slow to start although Skenderaj was one of the most destroyed parts of Kosovo.

Dr. Kouchner promised to call a meeting of partners working in Skenderaj to discuss how to accelerate reconstruction activities in order to prepare for winter.

He also met Serb representatives in Devic monastery who expressed their concerns about living totally isolated with no freedom of movement, no jobs and no access to the surrounding lands they used to cultivate.

The competition called "Living Together in Kosovo, In Europe", will promote human rights values such as tolerance and reconciliation, respect for others, democratic rule and a system of justice rather than revenge, according to a UNMIK statement issued today.

"The peace process is impossible without the involvement of children," said Dr. Bernard Kouchner, the head of UNMIK, who will preside over a ceremony to launch the competition involving 300 students and various community leaders.

Children attending primary and special needs schools will compete in designing a poster, while secondary school students will be asked to compose and record a song, or write a scenario for theatre, radio or film.

The winner in each category will announced after 13 January.

The operation began on Tuesday when a ruptured inlet pipe to a tank containing 600,000 litres of sulphuric acid began to leak at the rate of about 100 litres per minute, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said in a statement issued today.

UNMIK said the personnel had to don protective clothing and gas masks to guard against the effects of the fumes from the spill as they spread lime to neutralize the acid stream, which extends about 300 metres from the source of the leak.

Despite the use of nearly 50 tons of lime and additional cement and sand brought in from all over Kosovo, some acid was reaching the nearby Sitnica River. Further supplies of lime are being trucked to the plant today and UNMIK has warned local residents to keep away from the water near the Trepca complex.

The area, known as the "industrial park," housed a battery factory and zinc and cadmium production facilities but is virtually derelict through poor maintenance and a disastrous fire that swept the battery facility earlier this year.

UNMIK has drawn up contingency plans to deal with emergencies in the complex and, ironically, an emergency exercise involving the effects of an acid leak was scheduled for today.

"We must all condemn this senseless murder, " Dr. Kouchner said, adding that the murder had struck a serious blow to civil society in Kosovo. "And we must take up the challenge left by Rexhep Luci, to build a democratic, humane and well-planned Kosovo."

Mr. Luci, who was murdered on Monday, worked as the director of the Department of Planning, Reconstruction and Development and was responsible for implementing the rules against illegal construction, a job which Dr. Kouchner said "demanded great courage in the face of a lethal form of greed."

Dr. Kouchner said he was about to sign an order regulating all construction in Kosovo and it would be the first UNMIK regulation bearing someone's name -- that of Rexhep Luci.

The KTC condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the killing of Mr. Luci, as well as the murder on Sunday of Shefki Popova, a Rilindja journalist, and the disappearance of Marjan Melonashi, a journalist working for Radio Television Kosovo (RTK), who was reported missing since he left work last Saturday.

The KTC reaffirmed its "absolute determination" that these acts of violence and intimidation of journalists, political actors, and civil servants will not be accepted.

It also strongly supported the resolve of the municipal authorities to continue fighting illegal construction and called upon the free media to continue to strive for independent reporting and on all segments of society to contribute in the fight against violence.

In its meeting today, the Interim Administrative Council also discussed the murders.

Mr. Luci, who was shot six times in the chest by unknown assailants, was recently working on a project to demolish illegally built buildings in Pristina.

The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said in a statement that Mr Luci, along with other local national colleagues, recognized the importance of taking on certain difficult challenges for the future of Kosovo.

"Putting a stop to illegal construction was one of these. It is a tragedy that his bravery and courage resulted in his death," said the statement issued jointly by the Pristina Regional Administrator, Jean Guinard, and the Pristina Municipal Administrator, Siegfried Brenke.

The team of experts, assembled by UNEP, will map out pollution sources and contaminated sites that may require urgent attention. It will also determine the capacity of the two countries to address the environmental problems.

The experts arrived today in The FYR of Macedonia where they will meet with local experts and authorities, visit sites and take soil, water and air samples. They will also assess environmental pre-conflict "hot spots" of industrial pollution, as well as refugee camps. They will start work in Albania on 17 September.

While the two countries were not the focus of fighting during the conflict, UNEP said their environment was stressed by the hundreds of thousands of fleeing Kosovo civilians who crowded into refugee camps on their territory. In addition, there may also be industrial pollution not receiving attention because the governments are confronted with the enormous social and economic problems created by the conflict and its aftermath.

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said Albania and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, like many countries in the world, must confront significant threats to the environment and public health with limited resources. "We are pleased to deploy UNEP's tools to analyze the conditions of these two nations, so that we will all have a better understanding of the challenges ahead."