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To: CIMA who wrote (23386)	11/25/1998 8:03:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116871

Serbia Imposes Own Peace Deal Wednesday, 25 November 1998 P R I S T I N A , Y U G O S L A V I A (AP) SERBIA MOVED Wednesday to impose its own peace deal for Kosovo, defying a U.S. plan and warning that anything beyond self-rule for the province would trigger a regional war. Top Serbian officials arrived in Kosovo's capital for another doomed attempt to hold talks with majority ethnic Albanians, who refuse to attend without foreign mediation. The Serbian delegation did not let the other side's absence stop them, signing a declaration supporting self-rule for Kosovo with representatives of other ethnic groups instead. Although it will have little effect without ethnic Albanian support, the declaration reflects Serbia's defiance of international and ethnic Albanian attempts to loosen the republic's grip on Kosovo. "There is no solution for Kosovo if the area is excluded for Serbian authorities. In state territory, nobody has the right ... to create another state," said Ratko Markovic, the head of the Serb negotiating team. He warned that granting anything more than self-rule for Kosovo would amount to "a tragic political act leading inevitably to a military conflict, not only within Serbia but also among countries bordering Kosovo and probably a wider regional war." Kosovo is a province of Serbia, the dominant republic in Yugoslavia. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians are seeking independence for the region, but Serbia wants to retain control. With the two sides' positions still far apart, there are fears that Kosovo could explode into fierce fighting again next spring. Markovic's warning came a week after Serb authorities rejected a U.S.-drafted plan that envisages loosening Kosovo's ties with Serbia's central authorities while keeping it formally within its borders and under jurisdiction of Yugoslavia. A spokesman for the chief U.S. envoy for Kosovo, Christopher Hill, dismissed the declaration signed in Pristina, saying "it has nothing to do with us." Phillip Reeker said Hill would continue his shuttle diplomacy between the two sides with a visit to Pristina on Friday. Ethnic Albanian politicians have already dismissed the Serb plan, which would keep Kosovo firmly within Serbia while granting the province self-rule. Kosovo has been in turmoil since Serbs launched a crackdown last February to crush an armed rebellion by separatist rebels. The clashes claimed hundreds of lives and forced some 300,000 people to leave their homes. An Oct. 12 agreement mediated by U.S. envoys led to an end of hostilities in Kosovo and the withdrawal of many of the government forces. But sporadic fighting continues, with each side blaming the other for the violence.