10 December- 18 November, 1999

UN Envoy urges Kosovars to forgo revenge and speak out against violence.
DECEMBER 10 --The Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), D. Bernard Kouchner today urged Kosovars to resist extremists seeking revenge and to speak out against violence.

In an opening address to the Kosovo International Human Rights Conference in Pristina, Dr. Kouchner pleaded with Kosovars to give information to the police and not become silent accomplices to crimes and human rights violations.

"We cannot let vengeance or retribution replace truth and justice," Dr. Kouchner said stressing that the majority of Kosovars deplored violence and wanted peace. "We must all unite to form a genuine coalition for law, order and justice."

Dr. Kouchner said that on Monday, together with KFOR commander General Karl Reinhardt, he would announce a detailed plan of action for order and the rule of law aimed at improving security for all in Kosovo.

He warned that Kosovo was "in danger of being criminalized" and that human rights activists around the world who rallied to the cause of Kosovars in the decade of oppression are becoming more and more disillusioned and discouraged when they learned of ethnically motivated violence in Kosovo.

Inflicting violence on others "gives your former oppressors a victory they do not deserve", Dr. Kouchner said. "Every Serb killed is a victory for Mr. Milosevic."

German forensic experts give Kosovo evidence to UN war crimes court.
DECEMBER 9 -- The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today received evidence and reports from a team of German forensic experts working in Kosovo over the past six months.

A representative of the German police turned over the evidence, which will be used by the Tribunal's Prosecutor to build her case on Kosovo, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said in a press briefing today in New York.

Germany is one of the 14 countries that have provided forensic expertise to assist the Tribunal's investigation in Kosovo. Partial results from virtually all of the teams have been submitted to the Tribunal, which is located in The Hague. The Prosecutor now expects to receive information and evidence from the teams' national police agencies, Mr. Eckhard added.

Kosovo reports document grim catalogue of human rights violations.
DECEMBER 6 -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) released today two human rights reports that document extensive human right violations in Kosovo.

The reports give a grim account of human rights violations including murder, mutilation, rape, abductions and house burning.

OSCE said in a press release that the reports present probably the most extensive and systematic survey to date of human rights in Kosovo.

The first report, "Kosovo/Kosova - As Seen, As Told", covers the period from December 1998 to June 1999 and concludes that Yugoslav and Serbian forces committed extensive human rights abuses and violated the laws of armed combat. Their victims were overwhelmingly Kosovo Albanians.

The second report, "As Seen, As Told, Part II", covers the period between 14 June and 31 October 1999 and details human rights violations, the majority against Serbs and other minorities deemed to have supported the Serbs. The violations include executions, abductions, torture, expulsions and house burning committed by elements of ethnic Albanians in search of revenge. The report calls for thorough investigations into the allegations and an increase in international police and judicial experts.

The Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr Bernard Kouchner describes the second report in his foreword as "sobering reading" and a "challenge to everyone in Kosovo and UNMIK to do more to address the root causes of abuses". Dr. Kouchner further says that impunity cannot be tolerated and those involved must be punished. The human rights abuses now cannot be compared to the situation before the war when there was "a systematic policy of apartheid" in Kosovo.

In a foreword to the first report, former Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Justice Louise Arbour says the report is an important contribution to the documentation of human rights abuses in Kosovo.

"A reliable database of this kind goes a long way towards establishing a solid foundation for deciding upon appropriate measures to restore and maintain international peace and security in the region," she said.

Kouchner visits regions of Kosovo to meet with local people.
DECEMBER 6 --The Head of the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr Bernard Kouchner today made the first in a series of visits to the regions of Kosovo in order to meet with local people, UNMIK staff, local municipal councils and administrators.

Dr. Kouchner visited Glogovc and Skenderaj where he also viewed the work under way on a $9 million winterization and rehabilitation project. , UNMIK deputy spokeswoman Daniel Rozgonova told journalists in Pristina today.

Thousands of villagers are purchasing materials to rebuild their houses, with funds provided by the Japanese and French governments. So far in Glogove, 420 houses have been rehabilitated or are in the process of being rehabilitated, while in Skenderaj 419 houses have been completed or a nearing completion.

Later in the week, Dr Kouchner will also visit Prizen and Gnjilane.

Kouchner meets top Albanian officials to discuss reconstruction of Kosovo.
DECEMBER 3 -- The Head of the Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, yesterday met with high-level Albanian Government officials in Tirana to discuss the reconstruction of Kosovo.

The officials included President Rexhep Meidani, Prime Minster Ilir Meta, and Deputy Foreign Minister Ben Blushi, a press statement issued by UNMIK in Pristina today said.

The Albanian officials expressed their support for democracy and tolerance in Kosovo, the statement said. The question of fighting illegal trafficking and other crimes was also discussed, the statement added.

Dr Kouchner agreed with the Albanian officials on the need for a regular exchange of visits by UNMIK economic advisers, police and other technical experts.

Prime Minister Meta raised the issue of opening a representational office in Pristina, staffed by experts in education, law and finance, to support the work of UNMIK.

Dr Kouchner discussed with President Meidani the situation in Mitrovica, the importance of holding local elections as soon as possible, and the fate of missing Kosovars and detainees.

Following his meeting with the Prime Minister, Dr Kouchner told journalists UNMIK was doing its best to re-establish confidence between the Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Mitrovica.

"Our challenge in Mitrovica is to establish, step by step, multi-ethnic initiatives and to try to build confidence between Serbs and Albanian Kosovars," he said.

Humanitarian agencies distribute "massive" materials to help Kosovars through winter.
DECEMBER 3 -- UN and other aid agencies have distributed "massive" materials including shelter and food to help Kosovars through the winter.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its main shelter partners, ECHO and USAID, have distributed enough shelter kits to provide a dry room for some 350,000 Kosovars through the winter months. This is possibly the largest such programme anywhere in the world, UNHCR spokesman Peter Kessler told journalists in Pristina today.

"The scale of materials distributed in Kosovo is massive -- enough plastic sheeting alone to wrap Pristina several times over -- and it's still coming into the region," he said.

The World Food Programme and USAID's Food for Peace programme have distributed food to some 900,000 vulnerable families across the province, who receive some 15,000 tonnes of food per month. "Well over half of the population of Kosovo is getting food aid, " said Mr. Kessler.

In addition to shelter kits, some 20,000 wood stoves have been distributed and more than 8,000 families have received three cubic feet of firewood each. The total firewood distribution across Kosovo will be some 93,000 cubic metres, he said.

Clothing is also being distributed to thousands of women and children, with some 65,000 boots, 750,000 blankets and 380,000 mattresses already distributed.

Kouchner meets Macedonia's top officials on strengthening economic cooperation between Kosovo and FYROM, leaves for Albania for talks.
DECEMBER 2 -- Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Bernard Kouchner this morning held talks with Prime Minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Ljubco Georgievski, on re-establishing and strengthening economic ties between Kosovo and Macedonia.

The talks in Skopje, also attended by Macedonia's Ministers of Interior and Urban Planning, focussed on the possibility of enlarging the highway around the border crossing between the two countries and finalizing work on the opening of a second border crossing near Tetovo. Both sides agreed to meet more regularly and frequently to exchange information and deal with any problems that may arise.

At a working luncheon, Dr Kouchner explored with Deputy Foreign Minister and President-designate Boris Trajkovski ways to encourage private investments for the whole region. Mr. Trajkovski also raised the issue of the remaining 21,000 Kosovo refugees in Macedonia and their possible repatriation in the spring of next year. He offered his country's cooperation in the reconstruction of Kosovo.

Talking to the press, Dr Kouchner praised Macedonia as a model of tolerance and multi-ethnic harmony, which should be followed in Kosovo.

Following the talks, Dr Kouchner left Skopje for Tirana where he was scheduled to meet this evening with the President, the Prime Minster and other high-level officials in Albania.

Kosovo Transitional Council condemns brutal attack on Serb family.
DECEMBER 1 -- The Kosovo Transitional Council today condemned the attack early Monday morning on a Serb family in which a man was shot to death and his wife and mother-in-law brutally assaulted by a crowd celebrating a Kosovar Albanian holiday.

The Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, issued the statement today in Pristina on behalf of the Council, as he laid a bouquet of flowers at the scene of the attack in Pristina's Dardania neighbourhood. The Council is the highest-level advisory body of Kosovars.

The brutal attack "is a grave misuse of the liberty" awarded to the people of Kosovo by UNMIK and the international peacekeeping force, KFOR, to peacefully celebrate the Albanian Flag Day, the statement said.

"The Kosovo Transitional Council calls again on all people of Kosovo to have tolerance for each other and thus lay the foundations for the establishment of a genuine multi-ethnic society," the statement continued.

According to UNMIK Police, a crowd attacked the family while on its way to the hospital to seek treatment for the mother-in-law, who had also been assaulted a month ago, reportedly due to her ethnicity. UNMIK Police and KFOR tried to approach the scene but were prevented from intervening on behalf of the victims by the crowd.

Second group of police cadets start training in Kosovo.
DECEMBER 1 -- An intensive nine-week training for a second group of 175 police officers has started in Kosovo with students drawn from all over the province and representing Albanians, Serbs and other minorities.

A statement issued by UNMIK in Pristina today said about 76 per cent of the students are Kosovo Albanians, 15 per cent Kosovo Serbs, 8 per cent from other minorities, and 17 per cent are women.

More than 130 international police instructors from 13 countries and local legal specialists provide the training at the Kosovo Police Service School in Vucitm, 20 kilometres north of Pristina.

The training, which consists of democratic policing and other aspects of police training, is organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Kosovo. The OSCE is expected to train approximately 3,500 locally recruited police in 18 months.

Meanwhile, the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) yesterday officially assumed full responsibility for its first prison, in Prizren. This is "the final link" in the emergency judiciary set up by UNMIK, a statement issued in Pristina today said.

The statement said 60 experienced local staff have been hired and trained and the first class of correctional service cadets began training on Monday at the OSCE police academy in Vucitm.

The prison, a pre-trial detention facility overseen by three international staff, currently holds only 43 prisoners. This is expected to rise to 100 as other prisoners are transferred there.

UNMIK will take responsibility for the entire correctional system, including the main penitentiary at Iskok, next year.

Kouchner marks the start of vehicle registration in Kosovo.
NOVEMBER 30 -- Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Bernard Kouchner today marked the start of the registration for motor vehicles in Kosovo by adjusting a new licence plate to the first vehicle at the registration centre in Pristina.

"This is the most visible sign of law and order in Kosovo. With the return of regular license plates it will be safer on the roads of Kosovo", he said in a press statement.

The temporary vehicle registration will not establish ownership but will create a database on vehicles and their holders. "We must be sure that the cars and their holders have some kind of relation," said Dr. Kouchner, stressing the importance of the temporary registration in fighting and preventing car theft.

Six more registration centres will soon open throughout Kosovo and motorists have until 31 March 2000 to register their vehicles. After that date, UNMIK Police will penalize drivers of unregistered vehicles.

For the moment, drivers are only receiving their registration plates. Registration certificates will be issued in a few days when insurance companies will have met UNMIK's requirements to sell insurance in Kosovo.

Netherlands gives $15 million for the Kosovo budget.
NOVEMBER 30 -- The Dutch government today gave $15 million to support the Kosovo budget for 1999, which will be used to pay for public services and stipends for needy Kosovars.

Presenting the donation, the Head of the Netherlands Office in Pristina, Mr. Robert Van Lanschot said the money would cover 25 to 30 per cent of the Kosovo Consolidated Budget.

"It's a very considerable amount for keeping this place running as far as the normal public sector is concerned like medical care, education and the judicial system," he said in a statement issued by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

Head of UNMIK Bernard Kouchner said the money "will spread out to over approximately 50,000 Kosovars in the health and education systems and other sectors".

Dr. Kouchner said the Dutch Government's contribution would be an integral part of the UNMIK's rebuilding effort in Kosovo and would help foster the economic recovery process in the province.

UNMIK and KFOR strongly condemn attack on Serb family in Kosovo.
NOVEMBER 29 -- Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Bernard Kouchner today described as "outrageous and cowardly" the attack on three Serb residents of Pristina in the early hours of this morning, which left a 62-year-old man dead and his wife and mother-in-law severely beaten.

The incident, which happened as thousands of ethnic Albanians were celebrating their "Flag Day", involved a crowd of mainly young people who surrounded, overturned and burned the car of the three Pristina residents. The man was shot to death.

Commander of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) General Klaus Reinhardt said he was appalled by the incident. "It unveils a basic lack of humanity and a rare degree of cowardliness and intolerance on the side of the attackers and their supporters," he was quoted as saying by KFOR spokesman Major Roland Lavoie.

"It is totally unacceptable that such a celebration result in an outbreak of hatred and violence, " Major Lavoie said, while stressing that generally the celebrations were "peaceful and joyful". "The dignity of the celebrations was an encouraging sign for the people of Kosovo and the rest of the world," he added.

UNMIK police reported that over the past 24 hours there were three murders, one in Pristina and two in Gnjilane.

Pristina central heating goes into operation, pumping heat into hospitals, schools and homes.
NOVEMBER 29 -- Pristina's central heating plant has been started up four days ahead of schedule, following the early completion of repairs, and is pumping heat into hospitals, schools and homes in the city.

Smaller district heating plants in Djakovo and Mitrovica are scheduled to begin operating on Tuesday, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said today in a press statement issued in Pristina.

Head of UNMIK Bernard Kouchner switched on the central heating on Saturday, saying the plant will help keep 400,000 residents warm this winter.

He said the plant had not been maintained in 10 years and the repair teams had a difficult race and challenge. The repairs were completed with assistance from the European Union, Canada, Ireland and Sweden.

Heating from the Pristina plant should reduce the demand in the city on electrical power by 40 per cent. Meanwhile, the first unit of the Kosovo B electrical plant has been repaired and the second unit will be operational by mid-December, UNMIK said.

UN Envoy says humanitarian situation in Kosovo and Serbia remains daunting, five months after the war.
NOVEMBER 29 -- The Secretary-General's Envoy to the Balkans, Mr. Carl Bildt, today said the humanitarian situation in Kosovo and Serbia remained a daunting issue, five months after the end of the war.

"We anticipate that the distress of the large numbers of refugees will be intensified with the approach of winter," he said in a press briefing in Geneva today.

He said in the past five months in Kosovo represented no more than the start for the efforts to establish the interim administration. He emphasized the magnitude of the task, saying the force of disintegration in the region were still substantially stronger than the forces of integration.

He said any long-term strategy for stability and peace in the region was dependent on a policy based on three "Rs" -- political and economic reform, reintegration of the region and reconciliation between all of the states and nations in the region.

He said these three Rs were the pillars of any long-term strategy for stability and peace in the region. "The big issue in the region has been, remains and will be for quite some time, the issue of integration versus disintegration," he said.

UN and Macedonian officials agree to ease traffic congestion at Kosovo-Macedonia border.
NOVEMBER 26 -- The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Economic Development and Reconstruction in Kosovo, Joly Dixon, this week met with Macedonian Trade Minister Nikola Gruevski to discuss measures to ease traffic congestion at the border crossing between Kosovo and Macedonia.

The two officials agreed that the problems would be eased by spring when there will be less humanitarian traffic and more border crossing points with more customs officers deployed by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

A statement issued in Pristina today said they agreed on short-term measures to address the most acute problems. These included the opening of the KFOR bypass which may also be used by vehicles that do not need customs clearance, simplified controls of empty trucks leaving Kosovo and a 24-hour-day customs and border operation on both sides of the border at least for non-commercial traffic.

They also agreed to cooperate on traffic management, increase temporarily UNMIK customs officials to clear traffic backlog, upgrade facilities on both sides and create customs clearance areas away from the border.

In addition, Special Representative of the Secretary-General Bernard Kouchner is planning to visit Macedonia and Albania on 2-3 December.

Humanitarian agencies set up Task Force to help displaced Kosovars in Serbia.
NOVEMBER 26 -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other agencies have set up a Task Force to deal with a looming shortage of accommodation for displaced people from Kosovo in Serbia.

The Task Force, composed of UNHCR, ECHO, OXFAM, International Rescue Committee and the Swiss Disaster Relief, supported by the Yugoslav Federal Minister for Refugees, will identify potential accommodation sites throughout Serbia to help people who have no other place to stay, UNHCR said in a statement issued today.

According to government figures, there are more than 200,000 displaced people from Kosovo in Serbia - most of them Serbs. They joined some 500,000 previous refugees from Croatia and Bosnia, bringing the total number of refugees and internally displaced persons to an estimated 700,000 or more.

"This huge number has led to an acute shortage of shelter and other assistance," UNHCR said. "Most of the displaced have been staying with host families, but many of those families can no longer afford to care for them."

UNHCR is also rushing to deliver winter supplies to refugees and displaced people throughout Serbia and Montenegro and has delivered 10,000 litres of heating oil to the sports centre in Vranje, where some 300 displaced people from Kosovo are accommodated.

Kouchner, Kosovo political parties and European parliamentarians discuss reconstruction of the Balkans.
NOVEMBER 24 -- Special Representative of the Secretary-General Bernard Kouchner and the heads of Kosovo's major political parties are in Paris today attending an all-day forum on the political and economic reconstruction of the Balkans.

The forum, "The Balkans: From Stability to Reconstruction," includes roundtable discussions on efforts being made by Dr. Kouchner to establish a mixed administration in Kosovo, a statement issued in Pristina said.

Parliamentarians from the European Union, Central Europe and the Baltic countries, the Balkan states, the United States, Russia and Turkey are also participating in the forum, which is being held under the auspices of the French Nation Assembly.

UNMIK signs agreement with German bank to finance rehabilitation of water supply in Kosovo.
NOVEMBER 24 -- The UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) will sign an agreement on Friday with the German reconstruction loan bank pledging 9.3 million deutsche marks (approximately $5 million) to rehabilitate water supply systems in five western Kosovo towns.

The loan from Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) will finance the first phase of the rehabilitation programme which involves repairs to damaged water and draining systems in the towns of Pec, Prizren, Djakova, Rahovac and Suva Reka, a statement released in Pristina today said.

Ultimately, the statement said, a private water company will be created and sewage and irrigation systems will be rehabilitated.

Meanwhile, rehabilitation of the territory's power system continues. One unit of the Kosovo B power plant went on line today, adding 250 megahertz to the 150 currently being produced by the two functioning units of Kosovo A, UNMIK announced. However, a coal feeder problem caused a failure shortly after start up. At the second unit of Kosovo B a part was found to be defective and the unit will now be restarted around 14 December, one week later than scheduled.

Repairs to the central heating plant in Pristina are also under way and should be completed in the first week of December, UNMIK said, with plans in preparation to repair smaller district heating plants in Mitrovica and Djakova.

In the meantime, UNMIK urged Kosovo residents to continue to conserve energy.

Kouchner discusses security, progress in Kosovo with US President.
NOVEMBER 23 -- The head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, today met with United States President Bill Clinton at Pristina Airport to discuss the progress made by UNMIK and the problems that still remain.

President Clinton, visiting Kosovo as part of a southern Europe tour, met privately with Dr. Kouchner and the Commander of the international peacekeeping force (KFOR), General Klaus Reinhardt.

Dr. Kouchner said in a press statement that they had discussed the "many positive changes" that UNMIK has implemented in Kosovo, including the rebuilding of homes, the renovation of schools and the repairs to power plants, as well as security issues, the protection of minorities and plans for elections.

Dr. Kouchner told journalists after the meeting that President Clinton was "very supportive" of the work UNMIK and KFOR were doing, and he stressed that things were getting better. "In five months, we have achieved more than in five years in Bosnia," Dr. Kouchner said.

"The UN is doing a good job under tough conditions," President Clinton later said in a public meeting with Kosovars at a sports pavilion in Urosevac. "The United Nations troops and international organizations that have come here to help will stand with you every step of the way, and the coming winter in Kosovo is going to be a lot better than the last winter was," he said amid applause.

In his speech, President Clinton also called for an end to the cycle of hatred in Kosovo. Dr. Kouchner said the President had urged the UN to help the people of Kosovo work towards a society where all members of the population can coexist peacefully. "We need to work on security, peace and co-existence. When we have coexistence, then multi-ethnicism and reconciliation will come, " Dr. Kouchner said.

"President Clinton wants us -- the Albanians, the Serbs, UNMIK and KFOR -- to work together in a co-administration," Dr. Kouchner said in the press statement. "We are encouraged and happy to receive his strength and the clear perspective he offered."

UN officials visit border in a bid to ease traffic.
NOVEMBER 23 -- The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Jock Covey, yesterday visited the Kosovo side of the Kosovo-Macedonia border to investigate ways of unblocking the bottleneck in the flow of humanitarian aid to Kosovo.

A statement issued by the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) said Mr. Covey was accompanied by a team of UNMIK experts and police, representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Kosovo Force (KFOR).

The statement said the UNMIK border police are deployed at the border crossing 24 hours a day and all humanitarian traffic is immediately let through to Kosovo after their papers are checked. Commercial vehicles are kept in a holding area until they are processed by UNMIK customs.

Two weeks ago the UN humanitarian agencies expressed alarm on the long delays they were experiencing in getting aid through to Kosovo, as the Macedonian border police began requiring all humanitarian traffic to join the line of commercial trucks at the border-crossing, causing lines stretching up to 10 kilometres.

UNMIK representatives and UN representatives in New York are continuing to discuss a diplomatic solution to the problem with the Macedonian Permanent Mission in New York and with the Macedonian Government in Skopje. The problem was also discussed at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe summit in Istanbul last weekend, the statement said.

UN in Kosovo closes Pristina airport for civilian aircraft.
NOVEMBER 22 -- The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has announced the temporary closure of Pristina airport to civilian aircraft. The move was recommended by the French investigation team looking into the cause of the World Food Programme plane crash of 12 November.

Describing the move as "a cautionary measure," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told journalists in New York today that a team of experts from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will arrive in Pristina tomorrow to review the situation. They will then make further recommendations in about a week's time regarding the operation of the airport.

The international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, KFOR, operates the Pristina airport. The recommendation to close the airport for civilian aircraft arises from the possibility of misinterpretation between NATO military air traffic procedures and terminology and the ICAO equivalent that is used in purely civilian operations, KFOR said in a press statement issued in Pristina. Military aircraft will continue to use the airport.

"Having considered the interim recommendation carefully, UNMIK and KFOR believe it prudent to implement it immediately. Civilian flights will remain suspended until a review has been carried out of the procedures in use at Pristina Airport," the statement said.

In the meantime, the full investigation into the cause, or causes, of the accident continues, the statement added.

Kosovo has the highest level of maternal and infant mortality in Europe, says UN agency.
NOVEMBER 19 -- Kosovo has the highest level of maternal and infant mortality in Europe, UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Nafis Sadik said today in Pristina.

Dr Sadik, who is visiting maternity clinics and hospitals in Kosovo, told journalists that the war conditions have aggravated the situation of women and children.

UNFPA is working in Kosovo to provide training and equipment to ensure safe delivery of newborn infants and quality maternal care in hospitals and clinics.

Dr. Sadik said many of the current deliveries are premature to women who suffered great trauma and stress during the war. "In many hospitals and clinics there isn't adequate equipment or trained personnel to care for premature infants," she said.

Many women and infants are dying because of a lack of basic equipment and care, she said. "As winter draws in, the situation is expected to worsen, as many of the clinics where women give birth have no electricity, heating or water."

Dr. Sadik said even full-term infants are often underweight, as their mothers did not get enough to eat during the war.

"Another problem related to the effects of the war is a higher than normal incidence of miscarriage," she said.

She said the World Health Organization in Pristina estimates that almost 50 per cent of premature infants born in Kosovo do not survive.

Regulation enacted on appointment and removal from office of lay judges in Kosovo.
NOVEMBER 19 -- The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, has signed a regulation on the appointment and removal from office of lay judges in Kosovo.

A statement issued today by the UN Mission in Pristina said the regulation will establish "an independent, impartial and multi-ethnic judiciary" in the territory.

The Advisory Judicial Commission will post public announcements inviting qualified applicants to apply for the positions. The Commission is also accepting recommendations on suitable candidates from regional, municipal and judicial authorities and legal professionals. It will review individual applications and submit recommendations in writing to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General.

Lay judges help to determine the facts during a trial and, in conjunction with the law judges, adjudicate the case. The Commission will investigate a complaint regarding a lay judge and advice the Special Representative on the appropriate action to take.

Registration for non-governmental organizations in Kosovo to begin on 29 November.
NOVEMBER 19 -- The Head of the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, has signed a regulation on the registration and operation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Kosovo. The registration will start on 29 November in Pristina.

A statement issued in Pristina today said the registration will start in the regions on 6 December and should be completed by the end of January.

Once registered, NGOs will operate as legal entities and will be eligible for public benefits status, which gives tax exemption, including customs duties and sales tax on organizations distributing humanitarian aid.

International NGOS must provide documentation that they are registered in another country or jurisdiction and a written statement from their headquarters describing their purpose, planned activities and authorized representatives. Local NGOs will be required to verify their establishment in Kosovo.

Donors' conference for Kosovo raised more money than expected, says UN official.
18 NOVEMBER -- The Second Donors' Conference for Kosovo in Brussels yesterday raised more money than expected, UN Spokesman Fred Eckhard said today.

Briefing the media in New York, he said the pledging conference for the long-term development of Kosovo resulted in pledges of more than $1 billion.

Of the total, $970 million was pledged for reconstruction and recovery efforts in the territory. A further $88 million was for the regular Kosovo budget, $47 million for peace implementation activity and $18 million for humanitarian assistance.

About half of the pledges came from countries in the European Union, Mr. Eckhard said.

The pledges were made after senior officials from 47 donor countries and 34 international organizations discussed Kosovo's medium-term reconstruction programme, which was prepared jointly by European Commission and World Bank experts in support of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

The conference is the second major effort by donors to raise money for Kosovo, and focused on its long-term development over the next four to five years, Mr. Eckhard said. At the First Donors' Conference on 28 July commitments were made to provide $2.17 billion, including $1.6 billion for immediate humanitarian needs. Of that amount, approximately $460 million were either spent or firmly committed by the first half of 1999, he said.