Ethnic Albanian leaders in Serbia's tense south demand special status

Associated Press, Jan 14, 2006 11:44 AM

 

PRESEVO, Serbia-Montenegro-Ethnic Albanian members of local councils in Serbia's tense southern region adjacent to Kosovo demanded Saturday more autonomy from Belgrade for their kinsmen in the area.

 

The councilmen in the area known as Presevo Valley, the scene of a 2000-2001 ethnic Albanian separatist uprising later defused through a Western-brokered deal, approved a so-called "special status platform" in a meeting held in Presevo, some 250 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of Belgrade, Serbia's capital.

 

They demanded complete self-governance by the region's majority ethnic Albanians, including control over the judicial sector, health services, education and economic development.

 

Council members voted 59-1 in favor of the declaration, with one councilman abstaining. Five Serb councilmen from Presevo Valley did not attend.

 

The text of the declaration also demanded immediate withdrawal of Serbian army and police from the area, with the multiethnic police made up of local ethnic Albanians and Serbs assuming all responsibilities.

 

"All (ethnic) Albanian political parties here are determined to resolve decades-long problems of our people," Raghmi Mustafa, head of the Presevo council, told The Associated Press. "We will not back down."

 

Mustafa said the ethnic Albanian representatives would seek Western support for their stand and also send a copy of their declaration to authorities in Belgrade.

 

While it was not immediately clear what political impact the declaration could have, it reflected persisting political tensions in the area.

 

Violence subsided in the Presevo Valley after a Western-backed peace deal in 2001 granted more autonomy to the ethnic Albanians, allowing amnesty for the rebels and introducing confidence-building measures.

 

Belgrade has since tried to start up projects promoting multiethnic rule and reconciliation in the impoverished area, which has remained restive with occasional flare-ups.

 

Ethnic Albanians here traditionally boycott Serbian general elections, but take part in votes for local governments, which they win as the largest local community.

 

Bratislav Lazarevic, a Serb councilman from Bujanovac, dismissed the ethnic Albanian demand for army withdrawal as "insane," adding the Albanians "should consider this army as theirs, since they are citizens of Serbia."

 

Serbia's minister for human rights and minorities, Rasim Ljajic, urged calm.

 

"There is no need for dramatization," Ljajic said, adding the ethnic Albanian councilmen simply wanted to draw attention to the plight of their nationality in the Presevo Valley.