Not to get too technical, but your Kosovo chronology doesn't hold water, which is an important point on that issue. Ivo Daalder and Michael O'Hanlon's book from Brookings "Winning Ugly" about Kosovo has a very instructive chart on page 41 tracing the number of refugees and internally displaced in Kosovo from March 1998 through March 1999. It rises sharply during the fighting in the spring and summer but then declines sharply after the Holbrooke agreement in October, which put observers on the ground, and remains basically flat until the end of Rambouillet, when the U.S. let be known that war was irreversible.
And as for your claim that the ethnic cleansing was "linked to a ramping up of cultural suppression of language rights and other self-determination," exactly the opposite was true. A landmark agreement allowing Albanians to return to schools (notwithstanding some lunatic Kosovo Serb opposition) was reached between Rugova and Milosevic just before the KLA started escalating its attacks. See below:
LEVEL 1 - 12 OF 29 STORIES
Copyright 1998 Agence France Presse
Agence France Presse
March 23, 1998 15:44 GMT
SECTION: International news
LENGTH: 626 words
HEADLINE: Belgrade and Albanians sign accord of school return, Serbs protest
BYLINE: Ljubomir Milasin
DATELINE: PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, March 23
BODY:
Authorities and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo sparked off Serbian nationalist protests by signing an agreement Monday to end a seven-year boycott of classes by students against the Serb-dominated education system.
Serb professors and students in the provincial capital Pristina immediately and massively rejected the accord, which would enable ethnic Albanians to return to official schools and universities over the next three months.
Ethnic Albanian students have refused to attend classes since 1991 to back demands to be taught in the Albanian language, using historical and cultural texts of which they approve.
They have been attending institutions which are not recognised by the Belgrade authorities.
Monday's agreement met only the first of their demands -- to be allowed access to official school and university buildings.
It was nevertheless the first concrete sign of agreement between Belgrade and the Albanian leadership and came two days before the six-nation Contact group on former Yugoslavia meets to decide on the possible imposition of sanctions on Belgrade for its bloody crackdown in Kosovo.
The Serb professors board of the University of Pristina promptly rejected the agreement.
Their refusal was made public at a rally of Serb students which accused Belgrade of betraying the small but dominant Serb minority that makes up about 10 percent of Kosovo's population of 1.8 million.
About 10,000 students gathered in response to a call to "save southern Serbia and our university" and their numbers grew to 45,000, police said, as they marched through the city waving flags and banners.
University dean Radivoje Papovic told marchers "there is no national minority in the world which has its university."
Serbs, he said, "will not share this (university) with anyone else. It will be ours ... We will not let separatist children lie in the Serbian cradle."
Serbian nationalists frequently refer to Kosovo as the "cradle" of Serbian civilisation and the constitution of Serbia describes ethnic Albanians as a "national minority."
Student leader Zivojin Rakocevic told the rally: "The accord will be the start of Serbia's betrayal of Kosovo."
He singled out the ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova for organising clandestine elections on Sunday for a president and 130 deputies in the parliament of the self-proclaimed Kosovo Republic. Ethnic Albanians turned out in force to vote.
Describing Rugova as a "terrorist," Rakocevic said: "Yesterday he dared to proclaim himself president ... Today an agreement is signed which will allow him to put his sinister plans into effect."
The police prevented marchers from smashing the windows of shops belonging to Albanians and the rally ended without serious incident.
They carried placards reading: "Stop terrorism," "US, protect Serbs against Albanian terrorism" and "We will not give up Kosovo."
Under the agreement, ethnic Albanian students and professors would be allowed to re-enter three faculties at the University of Pristina by April 30, another three by May 31, and seven other faculties by June 30.
Some elementary and high- school pupils would be able to return to school by the end of March, others by the end April.
Teaching periods would be divided in two sessions to separate Serb and Albanian students.
The accord would concretise an educational accord, signed in September 1996 between then Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic and Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova, which has never been implemented.
Monday's accord was signed by Serbian Minister Ratomir Vico, Kosovo Albanian representative Fehmi Agani and Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia of the Catholic foundation Sant Egidio, who mediated in the negotiations.
ljm/an/rh
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: March 23, 1998
Seth