Security Council                                               SC/7434

4559th Meeting (AM)                                          26 June 2002





PEACEKEEPING UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL BRIEFS SECURITY COUNCIL ON KOSOVO;



SAYS KOSOVO SERBS NAMED TO MINISTERIAL POSITIONS, COMPLETING GOVERNMENT





Also Addresses Municipal Elections, Rule of Law, Refugee Returns





     The Kosovo Government had been completed following the nomination of Kosovo Serb representatives to ministerial positions, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said this morning as he briefed the Security Council on the situation in Kosovo.



The nomination of a Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development and that of an Inter-ministerial Coordinator for Returns in the Office of the Prime Minister were a welcome development since his last briefing to the Council, the Under-Secretary-General added.



     He said that, as preparations continued for the municipal elections scheduled for 26 October, prospects for multi-ethnic participation were encouraging.  The United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) had received a high number of minority political parties applying for certification and by 14 June, the mid-point in the certification process, more than 40 per cent of all applications had been submitted.



     Regarding enforcement of the rule of law, he said UNMIK had arrested four members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) on 18 June, and two more had turned themselves in to UNMIK Police the following day.  All six were charged with unlawful detention and causing serious bodily harm to five other ex-KLA members in June 1999.  Furthermore, UNMIK Police and the Kosovo Police Service had seized substantial quantities of gasoline, alcohol and cigarettes at border points.



The joint checkpoint of UNMIK Customs, UNMIK Police and the multinational security force -- KFOR -- in northern Kosovo had been moved closer to the administrative boundary to foil illegal traders, he said.  In addition, UNMIK had signed a Protocol on Police Cooperation with the Governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia on 31 May as part of its strategy to combat organized crime and terrorism.  UNMIK had also initiated negotiations with authorities in Albania and Montenegro in order to develop regional police and justice cooperation.

More here: [url]www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/sc7434.doc.htm[/url]

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