Snags In Kosovo Peace Talks

Just a day before peace talks to stop the bloodshed in Kosovo are to begin, the province's leading ethnic Albanian party Friday demanded that any deal include a vote on independence and the stationing of NATO troops - conditions the Serbs reject.

Meanwhile, international monitors were trying to prevent an armed clash between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serb police wanting to enter a rebel area to investigate a robbery at a Serbian monastery.

Protection of Serb religious sites is considered one of the most sensitive issues in the conflict.

Negotiators for the majority ethnic Albanian community were expected to leave later Friday for France, where the internationally sponsored conference is to open Saturday at Rambouillet castle, near Paris.

Before the departure, the spokesman for the main ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic League of Kosovo, insisted that any agreement include provisions for a referendum on independence and the stationing of NATO troops here.

Xhemail Mustafa, spokesman for the party headed by Ibrahim Rugova, said the presence of NATO troops was the only way to guarantee any peace accord.

He also insisted ethnic Albanians be allowed to build political institutions outside Serbia's control to pave the way for possible independence after a three-year period of autonomy, as proposed by the conference sponsors.

A referendum on independence is also a key demand of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which will also attend the Rambouillet talks but has opposed Rugova's nonviolent campaign for independence.

The Serbian government was to name its team of negotiators today after a grudging acceptance Thursday of the internationally brokered negotiations.

But Serbian lawmakers strongly rejected the peace plan that the United States and its European allies seek to impose by Feb. 19.

"Kosovo is not just any part of Serbia. Kosovo is Serbia's heart and it will remain forever so," said Gorica Gajevic, a top aide to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, in an emotional speech in Parliament.

An ultranationalist Serb deputy, Tomislav Nikolic, warned that government representatives to the talks must resist heavy pressure at Rambouillet.

"It will be difficult for you there, but it will be even worse for you when you return if you yield to pressure there," Nikolic said in a threatening tone.

Jakup Krasniqi, a senior KLA leader and one of five guerrilla representatives at the conference, said the rebels are going to peace talks to make their case for full independence, but are "not very optimistic" of either getting it or of ending fighting.

The uncompromising positions of both sides signaled that success in Rambouillet is far from certain.

Written by Robert H. Reid