Kosovo Liberation Army delay creation of civilian

NATO officials insisted the June agreement for the KLA to disband by midnight yesterday remains in effect. But they acknowledged unspecified problems prevented the two sides from signing an agreement on transforming the KLA into a 5,000-member civilian Kosovo Corps.

The KLA wants the new organization to become the nucleus of a new army of an independent Kosovo - something NATO has refused.

NATO has insisted that the peace keepers must be the only armed force in Kosovo. The Russians and the Serbs - who consider the KLA terrorists responsible for attacks against Serb civilians - oppose any formula that might enable the KLA to continue with its same organizational structure under a different name

The transformation agreement was to have been signed yesterday morning by peacekeeping commander Gen. Mike Jackson and the KLA military commander, Gen. Agim Ceku, but the ceremony was canceled.

And today, NATO and the U.N. mission were to begin organizing the Kosovo Corps. The group was to help combat natural disasters and take on other humanitarian and civilian missions, such as fire fighting and rescues.

In a clear warning to the former rebels, NATO spokesperson Lt. Col. Robin Clifford alluded to a former agreement to disband accepted by the KLA. He said Ceku must sign by midnight "because after that the KLA ceases to exist. So does its general staff."

Ceku's staff told reporters the general was unavailable to speak to the news media. A well-placed Albanian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Ceku insisted KLA fighters be allowed to keep their uniforms and red-and-black emblems but that Jackson refused.

The KLA was promised new uniforms for the Kosovo Corps but they would not be ready for months, the source said. The rebels also want assurances they can retain a military-style command structure, the sources said.

Hours before the midnight deadline, the two sides were still in what the sources described as difficult and intensive talks.

NATO officials said Thursday the KLA had already turned in more than 10,000 weapons ahead of the deadline and that the demilitarization is effectively complete.

It is unclear, however, whether those weapons constitute the total number held by the rebels. Weapons shown to reporters at NATO-guarded storage sites include old, bolt-action rifles.

NATO continues to report seizing weapons such as submachine guns, land mines and mortars that were already supposed to have been surrendered during the phased demilitarization.

In recent days, senior KLA officials have insisted the force serve as the nucleus of a national army to defend the province against the Serbs when the peace keepers leave.

Some KLA officers spoke openly about their reluctance to surrender all weapons and dismantle the KLA's military command structure.

On Saturday, KLA leader Hashim Thaci told a crowd at a ceremony marking the KLA's farewell that "the KLA is transforming. It won't be called KLA but will be a defense force of the citizens and territory of Kosovo."

"I'm convinced the international community will respect the democratic right for self declaration and referendum," he said. "And I am convinced that you will vote for the independence of Kosovo."

An independent Kosovo is strongly opposed by Russia and Yugoslavia, which retains nominal sovereignty. Neither the United States nor its Western allies have openly called for an independent Kosovo.

In an interview published Saturday by the newspaper Koha Ditore, Jackson said he believed Ceku and other KLA leaders "will feel comfortable in a future civil force of Kosovo."

Jackson was quoted as saying a few Kosovo Corps members may be permitted to carry weapons. Koha Ditore quoted unidentified NATO officials as saying the figure may be as high as 200 of the 3,000 full-time corps members.

Yesterday, Clifford, the NATO spokesperson, suggested the delay was due in part to disagreement over who would control the new organization, saying "the role of the KLA leadership" was still being discussed.

For many fighters, giving up the uniforms they wore during their desperate, 18-month war against Serb-led Yugoslav forces will exact a high emotional price.

Much of the KLA is believed to have demilitarized already. Large numbers of former rebels went back to their families and jobs after NATO and Russian peace keepers entered the province June 12. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic accepted a U.N.-backed peace plan after 78 days of NATO bombing.

09-20-99