(14 Oct 1999) Voice and effects

U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan says that the world organisation is not preparing Kosovo for independence and stresses the U-N must live within its mandate on the territory.

Annan was speaking on the last day of his first ever visit to Kosovo, during which he met local authorities and witnessed for himself the neighbourhoods destroyed by Serb forces.

VOICE-OVER:

(00.02)
The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan flies into Pec on the final day of his first visit to Kosovo.

(00.09)
The city, in the west of the country, was destroyed during the 18-month Serb crackdown that ended after NATO troops entered the province.

(00.17)
Annan visited a residential suburb of the city where he urged people to rebuild their homes, lives and ethnic coexistence.

(00.24)
But the U-N Secretary General dashed the hopes of Albanians who want independence from Serbia.

(00.30)
Speaking to reporters later in the day in Pristina he stressed that the U-N was not preparing Kosovo for independence.

(00.37)
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The mandate makes it clear that we should administer this territory as an autonomous region but within the boundaries of the former Yugoslav republic. From our point of view, we are not here to prepare the people for independence."
SUPER CAPTION: Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General

(00.59)
Although Kosovo Albanians, the province's majority, support independence from Serbia, the U-N resolution on Kosovo calls only for autonomy.

(01.05)
The province is administered by the U-N, backed by a NATO-led peacekeeping force and formally remains a province of Serbia - the main republic in Yugoslavia.

(01.15) VISION ENDS

Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ] ​​
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]


You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть