A senior US official dealing with Balkans issues said Tuesday the United States was "very pleased" with Belgrade's plan to end a crisis in the south pitting ethnic Albanian guerrillas against Serbian security forces.
James Pardew, who together with US ambassador to Belgrade William Montgomery met with Yugoslav officials in Bujanovac, the main town in the tense southern area, said the US "believes only a peaceful solution for the situation here is acceptable."
"We are very pleased by the plan that has been presented by ... the Serbian government for a peaceful solution of the crisis," Pardew told reporters in Bujanovac.
He added that the plan "is the first step towards achieving peace in the area."
"It seems that the process can move forward and lead to successful solution," he said.
His announcement came as Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said the government had adopted the plan, just hours after renewed clashed in the region on the boundary with Kosovo, Serbian state television reported.
Djindjic said Serbian officials may even talk with the ethnic Albanian fighters, the first time Belgrade has made such a concession.
The plan, presented by the Serbian deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, rules out autonomy for the troubled southern region near the UN-run province of Kosovo.
It also included measures to integrate ethnic Albanians into Serbia's social and political life, respecting their rights and improving the impoverished area's economy.
But he ruled out border changes or any "special status" for Serbia's ethnic Albanian community.
Covic asked the international community to put pressure on the self-styled Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (UCPMB), a rebel group fighting Serb forces in the Presevo Valley area, home to some 70,000 ethnic Albanians and which it dubs "Eastern Kosovo."
Specifically, he urged rapid demilitarisation of two villages, Veliki Trnovac and Lucane, which have been in separatists' hands since November.
Other parts of the valley, which includes a strategic road link between Europe and the southern Balkans, would be progressively demilitarised as well, according to the plan.
Ethnic Albanian separatists moved into the area after a June 1999 military technical agreement between NATO and the Yugoslav army declared a narrow buffer zone off-limits to Yugoslav forces with heavy weapons. *****
***** Agence France Presse February 6, 2001, Tuesday 2:06 AM, Eastern Time SECTION: International news HEADLINE: Serbia adopts peace plan after flareup in the south BYLINE: Alexandra Niksic DATELINE: BELGRADE, Feb 6
The Serbian government adopted a plan Tuesday to end violence in the south after its forces were embroiled in some of the worst fighting with ethnic Albanian guerrillas in more than a year of conflict.
The plan adopted at a cabinet meeting for the first time opened the door to talks with the ethnic Albanian fighters who want several towns in southern Serbia to become part of the UN-run province of Kosovo, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said.
"We should talk with those who can positively and negatively influence the situation in southern Serbia. If the Albanian community considers terrorists their adequate representatives, then the talks are possible," Djindjic said.
The decision came after renewed fighting between Albanian fighters and Serbian forces raged for several hours overnight using artillery and mortar fire, but no injuries were reported.
Serbian officials said the ethnic Albanian fighters attacked police positions near the rebel-held villages of Veliki Trnovac and Lucane and that they returned fire.
Ethnic Albanian political and military leaders said in the southern town of Muhovac they were ready to negotiate with Belgrade but suggested that they were still seeking to reunite the region to Kosovo.
"We are ready to negotiate. All that is left for us to start is for an international mediator to be named" said Tahir Dalipi, a member of the political wing of the guerrilla group.
The US administration threw its weight behind the plan, with envoy James Pardew saying in Bujanovac, the main town in the region, that Washington believed it could lead to a successful outcome.
"We are very pleased by the plan that has been presented by ... the Serbian government for a peaceful solution of the crisis," Pardew said, adding that the plan "is the first step towards achieving peace in the area."
"It seems that the process can move forward and lead to successful solution," said Pardew, who met with Yugoslav officials along with US ambassador to Belgrade William Montgomery.
The plan, presented by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, rules out autonomy for the troubled southern region near the UN-run province of Kosovo and any border changes.
But it included measures to integrate ethnic Albanians into Serbia's social and political life, respecting their rights and improving the impoverished area's economy.
Covic asked the international community to put pressure on the UCPMB, which stands for the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, the three towns populated by ethnic Albanians in southern Serbia.
He called for the rapid demilitarisation of two villages, Veliki Trnovac and Lucane, which have been in separatists' hands since November.
Other parts of the valley, home to some 70,000 Albanians and 30,000 Serbs, which includes a strategic road link between Europe and the southern Balkans, would be progressively demilitarised as well, according to the plan.
The state news agency Tanjug reported that the Yugoslav government was also to meet later Tuesday to discuss the plan.
The rebels moved into the area after a June 1999 military technical agreement between NATO and the Yugoslav army declared a narrow buffer zone off-limits to Yugoslav forces with heavy weapons.
The zone was created to minimise chances of clashes between Belgrade forces and the NATO-led peacekeeping force, KFOR, but rebels have used it as a safe haven.
Based in a five kilometre (three-mile) buffer zone, the UCPMB has an estimate 1,000-1,600 fighters, and is seeking the region's attachment to an independent Kosovo, the neighbouring province currently run by the UNited Nations.
Serb police say 17 people -- nine civilians and eight police -- were killed in rebel attacks in southeast Serbia last year. Rebels put their dead at 10 with 30 wounded. *****