Dow 12,000?
Clinton: Belgrade Offer
Could Be Step Forward
05:03 p.m Apr 22, 1999 Eastern
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President Clinton said Thursday
that a reported offer by Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic to
accept an international presence in
Kosovo could represent a step
forward in the Kosovo conflict if it
is genuine.
''If there is an offer for a genuine
security force, that's the first time
Mr. Milosevic has done that, and
that represents I suppose some
step forward,'' Clinton said in a
White House Rose Garden
appearance with NATO Secretary
General Javier Solana.
But Clinton admitted he had no
details of the offer. The Itar-Tass
news agency reported that Russian
envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin, on a
mission to Belgrade, had drawn up
a joint document with Milosevic
that said ''an international
presence in Kosovo'' under United
Nations auspices and with Russian
participation was acceptable.
Clinton said, ''If it is true, then it is
at least the first acknowledgment
by Mr. Milosevic that there will
have to be a security force there.
But for the security force to work,
it will have to have the confidence
of the people who live there and
will have to operate in a way that
protects all the people there,
including the Serb minority.''
Clinton's response suggested what
could be the beginning of a
diplomatic breakthrough in the
Kosovo conflict after 29 days of
air strikes by NATO on Serbian
targets.
It came as Clinton, Solana and
other NATO leaders prepared to
meet in Washington over the
weekend to discuss Kosovo as
part of their summit marking the
50th anniversary of the alliance.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. |
