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| UN Security Council Holds Consultations on Kosovo |
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The UN Security Council held consultations Monday on issues concerning the situation in Kosovo, but more time is needed to bridge the difference over the future status of the breakaway province of Serbia. Joachim Rucker, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special representative there, briefed council members on Ban's recent report on the work of the UN Mission in Kosovo. In the report, the secretary-general said that, while Kosovo's overall progress is encouraging, there is a real risk that the progress that has been achieved can begin to unravel if its future status remains undefined. Speaking to reporters after the council meeting, Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said council members remained divided over the future status of Kosovo. But Wang noted that the important thing was that council members in their comments talked about the possibility of resuming the negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia. "We want to have more time to bridge the differences in the council and also to bridge the differences in the region," Wang said. The United States and its European allies have drafted a resolution that would give Kosovo and Serbia four more months for further negotiations on the province's future status. If no agreement still can be reached, Kosovo would be granted independence under international supervision. Serbia has vehemently opposed to any plan that would lead to independence, and Russia has been calling for more talks between the two sides, saying that no plan is acceptable without the consent of Serbia. US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the United States and its allies are working on a new draft and urged a decision by the council on the Kosovo issue. "We are working with our colleagues to come up with a resolution that can be brought to the council in the next few days," he told reporters. The US envoy said he believed that the next 10 days will be a "decisive period with regard to the Security Council's role in making a decision on this issue." The United States is ready to support a period for more negotiations, which has been part of a revised resolution, he said. "I think the time has come for Russia to take a step in the right direction on this issue," he added. The United States, Britain and France circulated late last month a revised resolution stating that the Kosovo issue should not be taken as "a precedent" by the Security Council. It allows for a 120-day delay for Serbia and Kosovo to hold more talks before key provisions of a UN settlement plan proposed by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari to take effect. In a report submitted to the Security Council in late March, Ahtisaari proposed that Kosovo be granted internationally supervised independence. (Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2007) |
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