Questions And Answers On Kosovo

After intervening militarily to bring peace to Bosnia three years ago, NATO is now poised to use force again in nearby Kosovo.

President Clinton says he believes the NATO allies are with the United States in demanding that Yugoslav authorities loosen their grip on the Serbian province and allow its 2 million people to live in peace.

And the administration is saying that after six months of shadowboxing with Yugoslavia's president, Slobodan Milosevic, the time for diplomacy may be running out.

The following are some questions and answers on the Kosovo situation:

• Q. What are the roots of the Kosovo conflict?

• A. Kosovo, site of a bloody battle between Serbs and Turks in 1389, is considered hallowed ground by Serbs. Even though the province is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, the Serb claim to the land remains undiminished. Most Kosovo Albanians want Kosovo to become an independent state. The situation has been deteriorating since 1989, when Milosevic stripped Kosovo of its autonomy. The past six months have been a nightmare for Kosovo Albanians as hundreds were killed in Serb offensives and almost 300,000 were forced from their homes. The Serbs say they are battling terrorists in Kosovo who are trying to rob the Serbs of ancestral lands.

• Q. Why is Kosovo subject to such international attention?

• A. Kosovo, Serbia's southernmost province, is part of Yugoslavia, and in that sense the uprising is an internal matter. But the United States and other countries worry about a possible spillover effect that would draw in neighboring countries. Under one scenario, Greece and Turkey could join the fray on opposite sides. Since both are NATO members, that would have serious consequences for the alliance's southeastern flank.

• Q. Why has the issue come to a head now?

• A. To a large extent, events are being driven by the onset of winter in the Balkans. With so many homeless, a humanitarian catastrophe is shaping up unless settlement is reached. Also, Yugoslavia is perceived to have ignored last week's U.N. Security Council resolution that demanded a cease-fire and a political settlement. In addition, reports in recent days of massacres by Serbs of Kosovo Albanians have contributed to an interventionist mood.

• Q. Does the United States favor independence for Kosovo?

• A. No. Washington favors a compromise under which Kosovo would acquire a degree of autonomy while remaining part of Yugoslavia. U.S. officials believe that if a redrawing of boundaries begins in Kosovo, similar demands would arise elsewhere in the region and create a highly unstable situation.

• Q. What are the prospects for international military intervention?

• A. Any military action ould be taken by NATO, probably as air strikes against Serb targets in Kosovo. Other possible targets include Serb anti-aircraft sites and command-and-control centers. The United States and Britain believe NATO needs no U.N. Security Council resolution to begin military action, but Russia insists that such a resolution is a requisite and most likely would use its Security Council veto to prevent passage. Since Russia is not a member of NATO, however, it would be powerless to block NATO air strikes. A NATO attack is seen as quite likely, soon, unless the Serbs withdraw and open the way to a political settlement.

• Q. What would trigger a NATO attack?

• A. It would require a political decision by NATO allies, and a meeting on Kosovo is scheduled Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Defense Secretary William Cohen will represent the United States. Among other issues, the delegates will review a report by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on whether Milosevic and Kosovo Albanian independence fighters heeded the U.N. Security Council's call for a cease-fire and steps toward a negotiated settlement.

• Q. Who are principal players in the Kosovo conflict?

• A. Milosevic calls the shots on the Serb side. President Clinton, as leader of NATO's most powerful country, will decide whether or not NATO will intervene. Lesser roles are played by Annan, whose opinions carry weight internationally; Ibrahim Rugova, moderate leader of Kosovo Albanians, who is distrusted by hard-line guerrilla fighters; and U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill, who has been trying to promote a political settlement in Kosovo.

• Q. Is there bipartisan support in Congress for intervention?

• A. Most lawmakers who have addressed the issue support the use of force. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said, "It's way past time. We should punish." Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Tex., who advocates withdrawing U.S. troops from Bosnia, said, "There is an 'atrocity threshold' right now. The world is not going to stand by and watch people murdered." And on Sunday, Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said on television that "we should take aggressive action to prevent this genocide" but complained that the Clinton administration is ill-prepared for the mission.

• Q. Is there any relationship between Kosovo and Bosnia?

• A. Yes and no. Bosnia and Yugoslavia are separate countries, which made international intervention easier to justify in Bosnia. Its 1992-95 war was a cross-border conflict. The Kosovo conflict, on the other hand, is largely an internal Yugoslav affair between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians. The one obvious link between the two is Milosevic, who supported the Serb effort in the Bosnian war and now is directing the fight against Kosovo Albanians.

  Written by George Gedda