MAIN POINTS OF KOSOVO AGREEMENT

October 13, 1998

            WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Following are main points of the agreement reached between Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke on Kosovo, according to statements by U.S. officials Tuesday:

            Compliance with U.N. resolution:
            - Milosevic pledged full compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1199 which obliged him to implement a  cease-fire, withdraw forces deployed in Kosovo during the crackdown and return those already in the province to their garrisons, allow complete access for humanitarian workers to deal with displaced people and cooperate with the UN tribunal to investigate war crimes in Kosovo.

            Verification:
            - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will assemble an international team of 2,000 ``compliance verifiers'' to ensure Yugoslavia observes its commitments to end its crackdown in Kosovo. Yugoslavia will guarantee their security and their total freedom of movement.
            - The OSCE mission will have authority to establish permanent presences at any location in Kosovo, to accompany movements by Serbian police and military border units, and to help coordinate relief efforts and return people to their homes. Upon a political settlement, it would be empowered to supervise elections, help establish institutions and local police, and demand removal or punishment of individuals or units who violate compliance.
            - Noncombat aircraft will provide aerial verification of ground compliance under a formal agreement to be signed between NATO and Yugoslavia. This will involve ``unrestricted'' NATO aerial surveillance to quickly detect violations. Serb air defenses will be removed from Kosovo or stored in cantonment areas.

            Long-term political solution:
            - U.S. mediator Christopher Hill will continue to work on efforts to promote a political settlement between the Belgrade authorities and Kosovo Albanian leaders.
            - Milosevic has agreed on a timetable for reaching some form of interim arrangements, a commitment that the Kosovo Albanians will have self-government and Kosovan institutions of government and the establishment of Kosovan local police.
    - Humanitarian relief agencies will be able to bring help to the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.

            Outstanding NATO threat:
            - If by Saturday morning Serbia does not show serious progress toward compliance, the NATO force activation order will go into effect, authorizing NATO Supreme Commander in Europe, U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark, to go ahead with air strikes. President Clinton said he hoped the NATO threat would be maintained until Milosevic has fully complied.
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At Tuesday's session, the Serbian government reviewed Serbian President Milan Milutinovic's information about the political talks between Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and the special US envoy, ambassador Richard Holbrooke, announced the republican information ministry.

Serbian President Milan Milutinovic informed the government members about the several-day talks of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic with ambassadors Richard Holbrooke and Christopher Hill on the definite agreement reached on Monday with the international community for the problems in Kosovo-Metohija to be resolved in a peaceful manner and by political means.

Milutinovic informed the government about the entirety of the talks, especially about the international community's interest in a comprehensive monitoring of the situation in Kosovo-Metohija.

It was agreed that this task should be performed by an OSCE mission since this was assessed to be the best way for the international community to assure itself of the positive trends which are under way.

Of special importance is the fact that expressed was a constructive approach which represents the basis for a permanent political solution for the issue of Kosovo-Metohija's autonomy within Serbia, in accordance with the principles of the equality of all citizens and national communities living in this region.

Apart from this, also agreed on was a political framework, that is, principles for a political resolution with a time framework for its realization. They state as follows:

"1. A political approach and peaceful resolution of the problems in Kosovo-Metohija achieved through dialogue represent the only acceptable way for finding a lasting, just and humane solution for all the open questions;

2. Violence and terrorism, as unacceptable means contrary to all international norms, must cease immediately;

3. Any solution for Kosovo-Metohija must take into account the territorial integrity, sovereignty and international recognition of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's borders, in accordance with the basic principles of the UN Charter, the Final Helsinki Act and the Paris OSCE Charter;

4. A solution must be based on the full respect of the equality of all citizens and national communities in Kosovo-Metohija. Guaranteed will be the full affirmation and equal treatment of all national, religious and cultural values, as well as the historical heritage;

5. The future of Kosovo-Metohija lies in peace, equality, integration, economic prosperity as well as free and joint life, and not in ethnic, religious, cultural or any other divisions and isolation;

6. Legal arrangements for establishing self-government in Kosovo-Metohija should be in accordance with the legal systems of the Republic of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as well as with international standards and the Final Helsinki Act;

7. The citizens of Kosovo-Metohija will realize their self-government through assembly, executive and judicial bodies in Kosovo-Metohija. Within nine months' time, held will be free and fair elections for the bodies of Kosovo-Metohija, including those at the municipal level. The Yugoslav government invites the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to monitor these elections in order to ensure that they are open and fair.

8. Members of national communities will enjoy additional rights, in order to be made possible for them to preserve and express their national, cultural, religious and lingual identity in accordance with international standards and the Final Helsinki Act. National communities will be equal in the legal sense and will not take advantage of their additional rights to endanger the rights of other national communities or the rights of other citizens;

9. Within the context of a political solution for Kosovo-Metohija, which will provide for numerous competencies to be transferred onto the municipal level, established will also be the local police under the control of municipal authorities. This local police, whose composition will reflect the composition of the local population, will be coordinated by the administrative bodies of Kosovo-Metohija. This solution must ensure the full protection of all the citizens and national communities;

10. No criminal charges will be brought against any person before state courts for criminal acts related to the conflict in Kosovo-Metohija, except for crimes against humanity and international law, as envisaged by chapter 16 of the federal penal code. For the sake of providing full public insight, the state will allow full and unhindered access to foreignexperts (including pathologists), who will cooperate with state investigators;

11. The authorized bodies will reexamine, for the sake of an extraordinary reduction of penalties, the sentences passed to members of national communities in Kosovo-Metohija, who have been convicted for politically motivated criminal acts.

The time framework

1. By October 14 agreed on will be a comprehensive time framework, on the basis of the following elements:

- by October 19, the reaching of an agreement on the status of international presence, including verification, the OSCE and other elements;

- by November 2, the reaching of an agreement that will contain the basic elements for a political solution for Kosovo-Metohija, using as the basis the document proposed by the Contact Group (on October 2 1998);

- by November 9, the drawing up of regulations and procedures for elections".

The government has supported the reached agreements in their entirety since they have fully preserved the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country, a conflict has been avoided and conditions have been created for a political dialogue based on complex principles whose point of departure is that all the solutions should be set within the frameworks of the legal systems of the Republic of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The government has decided to propose to the federal government to accept the agreed upon solutions, the announcement says.

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38322 Decani, Serbia           fax +381 390 61567
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