NATO's regional commander in Kosovo visit

Associated Press, Aug 18, 2005 4:12 AM

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-NATO's commander for southeastern Europe was in Kosovo on Thursday, as this disputed U.N.-run province nears possible talks on its future status.

Adm. Harry Ulrich, commander of NATO's Joint Force Command based in Naples, Italy, will meet with officials from the alliance, the U.N. and Kosovo during his one-day stay, NATO said.

Ulrich's was making his second visit to Kosovo as NATO's regional commander, as this province enters a delicate phase on resolving its final status.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and patrolled by NATO since 1999. Ethnic Albanians have demanded outright independence, while Serbs insist the province remain part of Serbia.

Talks aimed at resolving the status are expected later this year, if Kosovo meets internationally set benchmarks on democracy, human rights and rights of minorities.

There are some 17,500 NATO-led peacekeepers deployed in Kosovo. They moved into the province following the alliance's 1999 war aimed at stopping Serb forces' crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.