World

KLA To Attend Peace Talks

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 28, 1999 / 5:25 PM EST / CBS

The spokesman for the general headquarters of the Kosovo Liberation Army said on Tuesday the KLA would attend NATO-backed international peace talks and would name its list of delegates on Wednesday.

"We are definitely going to the talks with our proposals," Jakup Krasniqi, the KLA's spokesman in Kosovo, said in central Kosovo.

The KLA's acceptance was sure to boost the spirits of U.S. diplomats and their Balkan Contact Group allies, who have undertaken a major push to bring Kosovo's warring parties together in light of a recent surge in violent clashes.

Krasniqi spoke during a break in a meeting of the KLA general staff at a secret location to discuss the peace conference, which the international community plans to hold outside Paris beginning on Saturday.

Earlier Tuesday, there were indications the KLA might shun the talks when their spokesman, Adem Demaci, said he was recommending that the rebels stay away.

During a news conference, Demaci said Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's government had consistently refused to negotiate in good faith or live up to agreements, including the Oct. 12 accord with U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke which ended months of heavy fighting.

He also assailed the proposed formula for the talks, which would leave ethnic Albanians with autonomy -- a far cry from the rebels' demand of complete independence.

"We are asked to go to capitulate," Demaci said.

Backed by a threat of force, NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana called the scheduled talks a "last chance" for the warring parties to resolve their conflict and avoid NATO intervention.

By late Tuesday, Serbs officials were still mum on whether Belgrade would send representatives to the peace conference in France, prompting a warning from Washington.

"There will be swift consequences if Serbs don't make that decision," State Department Spokesman James Rubin told reporters.

Tuesday's KLA gathering was believed to be the first time all members of the general headquarters had congregated in one place since the KLA's conflict with the Yugoslav security forces began 11 months ago.

The spokesman said the KLA had several proposals to take to the talks. One of the main ones was for a referendum on independence after any interim autonomy plan, expected to last three years, ran out. About 90 percent of Kosovo's population is ethnic Albanian and most want independence from Belgrade.

"After three years we want Kosovo to be organized for a referendum on self-determination by all Kosovars," Krasniqi said, referring to all ethnic groups living in Kosovo.

The war between Kosovo Albanian separatists and Serbian forces has made refugees out of hundreds of thousands of people and killed at least 2,000, most of them civilians.

Solana has said he believes ground troops would be needed to enforce any peace accord.