Kosovo

The Eu is About to Land in Kosovo. But Will It Take Off?
Mark Tran visits Europe's newest capital city to find Kosovo's biggest problem may be that there are too many cooks

British Battalion to Help Keep Kosovo Peace
defense secretary confirms Britain is to deploy battalion of 600 soldiers in response to Nato request for help

New Mission for British Troops in Kosovo
Deployment of troops likely to revive claims that government demands too much from its forces

Serbia Asks Un for Partitioning of Kosovo
Serbia formally proposes partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines for the first time

UN Police Officer Dies After Kosovo Clashes
Ukrainian officer dies from injuries sustained in the worst violence in Kosovo since it declared independence last month

Kosovo Clashes Force Un to Withdraw
Northern Kosovo experiences worst unrest since independence as Serbs go on warpath against western peace keepers

Fierce Kosovo Clashes Force Un Pullout
Serb protesters use automatic weapons, forcing peace keepers to retreat to Albanian-controlled south side of Mitrovica

Secession, National Sovereignty, and Territorial Integrity
Traditionally, the international community has been reluctant to treat civil strife the same way it does international armed conflict.

Kosovars and other Albanians - Why Great Albania is a Myth
The Myth of Great (or Greater) Albania is the belief that people of Albanian extract, wherever they may be, regard their domicile as part of a Great Albania and undertake all efforts necessary to secure such an outcome.

The Indivisibility of Kosovo, and the Mitrovica Serbs
The Serbian chauvinism and irredentism must not be tolerated, and for a certain period Serbia and the Serbs in Kosova, Bosnia and Croatia should be placed under international tutelage.

Serbia in Crisis As Pm Quits Over Kosovo
The Serbian prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, dramatically resigned today, saying his government had collapsed over the issue of Kosovo's declaration of independence last month

Breaking Point
It's a crisis that's been simmering since 1999, when Nato troops enforced an uneasy peace on Kosovo. But from Monday, the Albanian majority in this former Yugoslav province will no longer be bound by the UN-brokered truce. And the fallout could be disastrous, as Julian Borger reports

Kosovo Police Injured in Serb Protest
Ten Kosovo police officers injured when Serb war veterans threw stones and bottles during a protest at a border crossing

The Indivisibility of Kosovo: Principle of International Law
Mitrovica never existed as entity with borderlines, and it should never exist in the future. Kosova cannot be divided. Even more importantly, Kosova’s indivisibility should become a principle of the International Law.

Interventionism Can Be the Only Moral Course of Action
Martin Kettle: Britain was right to play its part in the Kosovo conflict and, however difficult, we have to stick with the consequences

Embassy Attack Could Just Be the Start, Serb Politicians Warn
Rioters are being encouraged by inflammatory rhetoric of Serb nationalists following controversial secession of Kosovo

Serb Rioters Invade Us Embassy
Serbs protesting at western support for Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence set fire to American embassy in Belgrade

Serb Protesters Set Us Embassy Ablaze in Belgrade
Protesters broke into the US embassy and set it ablaze tonight in Belgrade during a huge rally against the independence of Kosovo

Kosovo Border Secured As Serbs Turn Up Heat
Nato troops and UN police move to secure Kosovo's northern borders as ethnic Serbs demonstrate

Moscow Condemns Eu Plans for Kosovo Police Mission
Russia says sending 2,000 police to secure breakaway country's independence would be in breach of international law

Serbian Convoy Enters Kosovo Amid Fears Over Partition of New State
Serb resistance to Kosovo escalates as border posts are torched and a convoy of several hundred enters the state

Serb Protesters Attack Kosovan Outposts
Two border crossings in northern Kosovo attacked and US embassy in Belgrade shuts amid rioting

Angry But Pragmatic, Protestors Fly the Flag for Nationalism
Serb enclaves challenge sovereignty of new Kosovo state

Kosovo: the Key Figures
A run-down of the key players both for and against Kosovan independence

Questions Remain Over Eu's Role
Ian Traynor: Independence declaration for Kosovo set to provide toughest test yet for Brussels

Albanian Celebrations Leave Serbs Defiant
Russia seeks UN talks as declaration of independence by Kosovo widens rifts

Kosovo: the Vital Questions
Who lives there now, and what was the war about? Peter Beaumont explains

Joy and Defiance on Kosovo's Greatest Day
On the eve of Kosovo's declaration of independence, can it escape its legacy of violence?

When a Rose is blossoming in Kosovo…
Within hours, a rose will blossom in Kosova, the new country that finally enters the UN after so many decades of discriminations, persecutions, and diplomatic tergiversations.

New Beginning, Old Fears - Kosovo at the Crossroads
Old ethnic rivalries may harm the future of the new state of Kosovo

Kostunica, the Main Loser Over Kosovo
The loss of Kosovo is a particularly bitter pill to swallow for Vojislav Kostunica

Serbia Threatens to Recall Envoys From States Backing Independent Kosovo
Serbia signaled today it would withdraw ambassadors from countries that recognize an independent Kosovo but insisted it would retain diplomatic ties

President Warns Against Partition
Kosovo's president has called on Nato to ensure that the state is not partitioned when it declares its independence from Serbia

Serbia Refuses to Accept Kosovo's Imminent Secession
Prime minister says he will not recognize 'puppet state' ahead of territory's expected declaration of independence

Kosovo Breakaway Illegal, Says Putin
Russia warns Europe and US against recognizing independent state

Serbia Appeals to Security Council As Kosovo Prepares to Go It Alone
As Kosovan independence looms Serbia calls for emergency meeting of the UN security council

Kosovo to Declare Independence, Serbia Claims
Kosovo is set to declare independence from Serbia next week, the Serbian government claimed today, amid fears that the move will trigger renewed instability in the region

The Kosovo Tug-of-war
With Kosovo on the verge of declaring independence from Serbia, ending years of political limbo, Mark Tran looks at the likely impact of the move

Serbia's Pm Blocks Eu Pact in Protest Over Kosovo Declaration
Serbia's nationalist prime minister yesterday blocked the signing of a landmark pact between Belgrade and the EU in an attempt to delay the secession of Kosovo

Serbian Election Result Muddies Waters for Kosovo's Independence
Re-election of Boris Tadic as president of Serbia muddies waters for Kosovo's quest for independence

Kosovo is Key As Hardliner Wins First Leg of Serb Poll
An extreme nationalist won the first leg of Serbia's presidential election last night, raising the prospect of international isolation and increasing the chances of more Balkan conflict over the looming declaration of independence by Kosovo

Eighty Uk Officials Will Join Mission to Kosovo, Says Pm
Around 80 policemen and judicial officials from the UK will form part of a multinational mission to Kosovo, Gordon Brown said today

EU Summit Gambles on Huge Kosovo Mission
1,800 expected to be sent in nation-building exercise · Move a response to 'strong pressure' from Washington

EU Leaders Agree Kosovo Mission
EU leaders agree to send a mission to Kosovo in support of an expected declaration of independence, says Gordon Brown

Offer of Swift Serbian Entry Into Eu If It Lets Kosovo Break Away
European leaders are prepared to offer Serbia "accelerated" EU membership for accepting Kosovan independence, it was reported today

EU Nations Poised to Go It Alone Over Kosovo
The EU's biggest four countries are pushing to impose and oversee independence in Kosovo without a fresh UN mandate, risking the ire of Russia and Serbia

Europe's Big Four Raise Stakes on Kosovo
· EU summit urged to agree to independence plan· Fear that Russia would oppose new UN mandate

EU Still Divided As Crisis Looms Over Kosovo Independence
European governments struggled to find agreement yesterday on how to respond to the looming crisis over Kosovo independence on the day that almost two years of negotiations between Kosovo Albanian leaders and the Serbian government were declared dead

Miliband Calls for Extra Kosovo Troops
The foreign secretary, David Miliband, today called on called on Europe to send more troops to the Balkans to prevent violence over Kosovo's expected declaration of independence.

Talking Tough But Sick of Fighting: Serbs Prepare for Kosovo Showdown
After talks end in deadlock, province prepares to declare independence

Top Serbian Official Issues War Threat Over Kosovo
EU special envoy on Kosovo demands retraction of threat that Serbia could resort to war if the mostly ethnic Albanian province declares independence

Breaking Point
It's a crisis that's been simmering since 1999, when Nato troops enforced an uneasy peace on Kosovo. But from Monday, the Albanian majority in this former Yugoslav province will no longer be bound by the UN-brokered truce. And the fallout could be disastrous, as Julian Borger reports

'They're Always Being Told It's Three Months Away'
Kosovo has been the crucible of Europe's most divisive conflict in recent memory. Ahead of the publication of a UN report on attempts to resolve the Balkan dispute, Mark Tran takes you through the myriad factors dictating the possibility of an independent Kosovo

UK Troops Ready for Kosovo Crisis
Britain yesterday offered to be the first Nato country to send extra troops to Kosovo within weeks, as the Conservatives and Balkan experts warned of a potentially violent crisis brewing

Fears Grow As Kosovo Talks Fail
Tension rises in Balkans over independence plan · Plea for peace as Russia and Serbia resist change

New Bid to Resolve Kosovo Status
Leaders from Serbia and breakaway province Kosovo begin new negotiations with international mediators in last-ditch attempt to resolve issue of the Balkan territory's status

Dangers of an Illusory Independence
Simon Tisdall, world briefling: Vilified by western powers in the 1990s as the bad boy of Europe, Serbia says the boot is on the other foot these days. According to Belgrade, it is the US, Britain and France that endanger stability in the western Balkans by rashly backing Kosovo's independence

US and Europeans Try to Avert Breakaway By Kosovo With New Year Recognition Pledge
Russian backing for Serbia could bring crisis in weeks· Belgrade may encourage Serb secession in Bosnia

EU Ministers Try to Head Off Kosovo Breakaway
Former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, whose party is thought to have beaten the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo with 34% of the vote, said the province would declare independence from Serbia next month

Snaking Towards Independence
Leader: Even if they wanted to - and unfortunately some do - European governments cannot look in the other direction over Kosovo any longer

Kosovo's Formal Independence, Europe and Russia
Europe will defeat Russia in Kosovo; or sooner or later Europe will be defeated.

Kosovo Ready to Break Away
As Kosovo prepares for parliamentary elections tomorrow, expectations are high that it will declare independence from Serbia, says Mark Tran

Stand Firm on Kosovo
Jonathan Steele: The EU must not relent to the siren voices who oppose the territory's path to independence.

EU Envoy Dismisses Plans to Partition Kosovo
The European special envoy for Kosovo has dismissed suggestions that the EU favors partitioning the province, saying the idea had not been discussed and was not a realistic option.

How Far Will Russia Go in Defence of Serbia's Rights in Kosovo?
World Briefing: Exactly how far Russia will go in defence of Serbia's rights in Kosovo is a question of pressing importance, now UN security council negotiations to agree conditional independence for the breakaway province have ground to an ignominious halt, writes Simon Tisdall.

Kosovo Pm Plans to Declare Independence in November
Kosovo should declare unilateral independence on November 28, the prime minister of the UN-administered Serbian province said today.

Kosovo to Declare Independence Despite Russian Opposition
The government of the contested Balkan province of Kosovo yesterday said it would issue a unilateral declaration of independence within months in exasperation at western capitulation to a Russian veto threat in the UN security council.

On Kosovo, the Eu is United - By a Sickening Lack of Will
Despite the modest successes of the reform treaty, the first post-summit crisis lays bare Europe's failures. By Jonathan Steele

Serbia Attacks Us for Backing Kosovan Breakaway
Serbia today condemned US support for Kosovo's independence after George Bush expressed impatience with foot-dragging over the fate of the breakaway Serbian province.

Bush Insists Kosovo Must Be Independent and Receives Hero's Welcome in Albania
Thousands pay tribute to US president in Tirana - Putin refuses to withdraw backing for Serbs at UN

Independence is Only Solution for Kosovo, Un Envoy to Insist
The UN envoy seeking to settle the Kosovo conflict between Serbia and ethnic Albanians will tell the UN security council next week for the first time that independence is the only viable option for the province in the southern Balkans.

For Kosovo, New War Fears
World Briefing: In the evolving narrative of the Blair era, the Kosovo intervention is described as a key moment whose perceived success led fatefully on to Afghanistan and Iraq. By Simon Tisdall

UN to Decide Kosovo Future After Talks Fail
Serbian and ethnic Albanian leaders ended a year of fruitless negotiations over Kosovo at the weekend, meaning that the dispute over what becomes of the province in the southern Balkans will be decided by the UN security council.

UN Caught Between Serbian Hardliners and Albanian Separatists Over Kosovo's Push for Independence.
If it continues trying to appease everyone over Kosovo's push for independence the UN could end up helping no one, says Mark Tran.

Ahtisaari Warns Un: Find Kosovo Solution or Risk Return to Violence
The UN envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, warned yesterday that if the UN Security Council failed to impose a solution for the contested province, it could lead to a return to violence there.

Kosovo Set on Path to Independence As Envoy Sketches Out Final Chapter in Balkan Conflict
Serbia rejects blueprint as violation of sovereignty - Russia opposes UN vote to create EU protectorate

Delay in Recognising Kosovo Will Invite More Bloodshed
Post-bombing western guilt is making things worse in the Balkans. Serbia's nationalists have to see the game is lost. By Jonathan Steele

Kosovo Breakaway Could Raise Scot Nats' Hopes
The breakaway British region of Scotland could be among the beneficiaries of this week's expected UN recommendation that Kosovo be granted provisional independence from Serbia, leading in time to full sovereign status. By Simon Tisdall

A Kosovo Breakaway Could Raise Nationalist Hopes Closer to Home
A Kosovo breakaway could raise nationalist hopes closer to home, writes Simon Tisdall.

Serbia on Knife-edge in Decisive Election
Reaction to UN Kosovo plan in balance - US calls for people to reject isolation of nationalism

UN Delays Final Report on Kosovo's Future
The international community today put off deciding to impose independence on Kosovo in an attempt to forestall extreme nationalists coming to power in Serbia.

Serbia Snubs Un With Vote to Keep Kosovo
Serbia set itself against the international community and Kosovo's ethnic Albanians yesterday by endorsing a new constitution declaring Kosovo for ever part of Serbia, only a few months before it is expected to lose the province.

World Briefing
Plain-speaking Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president who has been widely tipped to win the Nobel peace prize today, let the Kosovo cat out of the bag this week with potentially unpredictable consequences for Balkan stability. By Simon Tisdall

Serbia and Kosovo in Independence Talks
For the first time since the conflict eight years ago, the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo sat down together today in an attempt to hammer out a settlement for the disputed southern Balkan province.

Summit on Kosovo Ends in Deadlock
For the first time since going to war eight years ago, the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo sat down together yesterday to try to hammer out a settlement for the contested southern Balkan province.

Milosevic Allies Go on Trial in Hague for 'ethnic Cleansing' in Kosovo
· Former Serbian president charged over 1999 conflict · Defendants accused of helping deport Albanians

Serbs Mark Historic Disaster Day With Renewed Gloom
Anniversary of battle defeat by Turks highlights loss of Montenegro and Kosovo.

Identity Crisis
Buoyed by the independence moves of Montenegro and Kosovo, Tom Parfitt sees disputed regions in the former USSR push for sovereignty.

'Serbians Will Use This to Revive Their Sense of Victimhood'
In Kosovo, the scene of Slobodan Milosevic's most recent atrocities, Albanians reacted yesterday with anger and annoyance to the former leader's death.

Serbia Threatens to Resist Kosovo Independence Plan
· Talks start today but could reach deadlock· International community may impose solution

Independence Leader Rugova Given Hero's Funeral in Kosovo
· Hundreds of thousands line streets to pay tribute · Fears that militant figure could inherit mantle

Kosovo Mourns Independence Hero
The future of Kosovo hangs in the balance after the death of Ibrahim Rugova, the leader of Kosovo's majority Albanian population.

US Pushes for Decision on Kosovo Status
The US is stepping up the pace for a decision on whether Kosovo should have independence, and believes full-scale negotiations should start this autumn, according to Nicholas Burns, the state department's third-ranking official.

Kosovo Government Falls As Prime Minister is Indicted for War Crimes
The unstable Balkan province of Kosovo braced itself for a bout of unrest last night when the prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, was indicted for war crimes by the international tribunal in The Hague and his government collapsed.

Time Running Out to Stop Kosovo's Descent in Violence
Simon Tisdall: World briefing: Kosovo could descend into renewed violence within weeks unless EU takes urgent action, senior diplomats and international experts warned in Brussels this week.

World Briefing: War Crimes Indictment Could Push Teetering Kosovo to Edge
The possibly imminent indictment for war crimes of Kosovo's prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, threatens to provoke a new crisis in the breakaway Serbian province that was invaded by British and other forces in 1999 and remains under uneasy UN and Nato control.

Setback for Kosovo As Un Official Resigns
The prospect of a settlement between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo was set back yesterday when the UN administrator of province resigned after only 10 months in the post. Harri Holkeri, 67, a former prime minister of Finland, who has been criticised for his lacklustre performance in the...

Western Policy in Kosovo Attacked
Kosovo is in danger of becoming Europe's West Bank, a destabilising source of unrest in the Balkans, because of five years of flawed and failed western policy-making and peacekeeping, the International Crisis Group thinktank said yesterday. It called for an overhaul of western policy in...

Ian Traynor: Partition in Kosovo Has Ominous Implications
For Serbs and Albanians, partition in Kosovo is the only acceptable solution. But the implications for the rest of the Balkans are ominous.

Troops 'in Kosovo for a Month'
The British troops sent to Kosovo as a reaction to last week's upsurge in violence will be there for at least a month, the government announced today. Around 1,100 UK armed forces have been deployed to the region to "restore calm and prevent unrest spreading to areas outside of Kosovo",...

EU Troops Rush in to Regain Control in Kosovo
Nato warns ethnic Albanians that violence will not succeed.

Nato Acts on Kosovo Terror
Nato rushed 1,000 extra peacekeepers, including 600 British troops, to Kosovo yesterday amid fears that the worst day of ethnic violence between Albanians and Serbs since the 1999 war might lead to an explosion of pogroms and fighting in the region. Ethnic Albanian rioters maintained the...

Fourteen Dead As Ethnic Violence Sweeps Kosovo
UN peacekeepers struggle to contain gun battles.

Raging Gun Battle As Ethnic Violence Erupts in Kosovo
Six die as UN and Nato struggle to defuse tension.

Kosovars Call on 'colonial' Un Force to Leave
The international force's fall from grace in Kosovo is a stark warning of what could happen to peacekeepers in Iraq. Helena Smith reports.

Boycott May Doom Talks on Kosovo
Talks due to start tomorrow between political leaders from Serbia and Kosovo seemed doomed last night after the main Albanian delegation said it would boycott the discussions, the first since the end of the 1999 war. The pledge by Bajram Rexhepi, the province's Albanian prime minister,...

Democrats hope for a new Eisenhower
Wesley Clark knew he could win the Kosovo campaign, he once said, because he understood inside out the nature of the challenge he was facing.

Wesley Clark seeks Democratic nomination
Wesley Clark, the general who led Nato's bombing campaign in Kosovo, shook up the race for the White House yesterday when it was revealed that he would seek the Democratic party's nomination.

Rebels clash with Macedonian troops
Macedonia faced its most serious security crisis for more than a year yesterday, when ethnic Albanians clashed with security forces on the border with Kosovo in fighting that left several gunmen dead.

UN police officer killed in Kosovo
A UN police officer was shot dead in an ambush of his car in Kosovo yesterday. He was the first member of the international force to be killed there since the end of the war, four years ago.

'Torturer' Safe in Un Kosovo Role
The UN has refused to arrest a Zimbabwean police officer accused of torture who is currently working for it in Kosovo as a member of an international training team. The UN was informed in early June that the alleged torturer, Detective Inspector Henry Dowa, was working for it in Prizren,...

Kosovo's Iraqi Lessons
Should the United Nations administer Iraq? Is it - as Kofi Annan, its General Secretary, insists, the best-qualified to build nations? Or will it act as a bureaucracy out to perpetuate itself by preventing true transformation and indigenous rule? Kosovo is a lucrative post for more than 10,000 exorbitantly overpaid international administrators and perked consultants as well as 40,000 itinerant peacekeepers.

Kosovans Seek Freedom From Serb-led Union
Activists angry at inclusion in Serbia-Montenegro. Kosovo Albanian activists want to have the UN-run province declared an independent state next week because they are so enraged at being formally included as part of Serbia in the new union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Serbian Leader Surrenders to Hague Tribunal
The Hague war crimes tribunal netted one of its biggest fish yet yesterday when the former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic surrendered himself for trial. Mr Milutinovic, charged with war crimes committed during the Serb crackdown in Kosovo in 1999, flew to the the Hague voluntarily...

Two Britons Among Vietnam Blaze Dead
Governing Britain has not been easy for Tony Blair since he first arrived as prime minister - the painfully slow progress in public services, the traumatic resignations of key lieutenants, the agonising decisions over Kosovo, the inch-by-inch struggle to achieve an Irish peace process, and the...

Vojvodina - The Hungarian Kosovo
Milosevic is still a hate figure in Vojvodina. Until he abolished it in 1989, the northern region, bordering on Hungary, enjoyed an autonomy granted by Tito's successive constitutions. Vojislav Kostunica, the current president of Yugoslavia and the winner of the first round of elections for the presidency of Serbia has replaced the deposed autocrat as chief villain.

Milosevic Protests As Curtain Falls on First Act of His Trial
Slobodan Milosevic ended the first part of his historic war crimes trial yesterday as he began it: dismissing "fabricated" charges and complaining about his treatment by the Hague tribunal. As UN prosecutors completed their case on Kosovo, the former Yugoslav leader demanded the right to...

BBC Reporter Stands Up to Milosevic
The BBC correspondent Jacky Rowland faced a withering cross-examination from Slobodan Milosevic at his war crimes trial yesterday but she insisted that the corporation's coverage of the Kosovo conflict was impartial and objective. Rowland, who also reported for the Guardian from the...

UN 'ignored' abuse at Kosovo mental homes
Patients at United Nations mental institutions in Kosovo have been raped and physically attacked under the eyes of UN staff, held in "filthy and degrading" conditions, and threatened with punishment if they report the abuses, according to a damning investigation published in New York yesterday.

Secrecy May Rule Out Star Witness in Milosevic Trial
United Nations prosecutors may not call a star witness in Slobodan Milosevic's trial for war crimes in Kosovo because the US is insisting that he can give evidence only behind closed doors. In a move which has underlined mounting concerns about Washington's attitude to international law,...

UN accused of Kosovo failure
Almost three years after the end of the war in Kosovo, the United Nations is being accused of failing in the province and effectively allowing it to be split into separate Serb and Albanian entities.

Trading from a Suitcase - The Case of Shuttle Trade
They all sport the same shabby clothes, haggard looks, and bulging suitcases bound with frayed ropes. These are the shuttle traders. You can find them in Mongolia and Russia, China and Ukraine, Bulgaria and Kosovo, the West Bank and Turkey. They cross the border as "tourists", sometimes as often as 10 times a year, and come back with as much merchandise as they can carry in their enormous luggage. Some of them resort to freight forwarding their "personal belongings".

'Kosovo cleanser' yields to UN court
Slobodan Milosevic's right-hand man in Kosovo, who allegedly oversaw the expulsion of 800,000 Kosovan Albanians from the province, was in UN custody in the Hague last night after giving himself up.

Serb Army Chief Gives Himself Up
The Yugoslav army commander who led the Serbian forces in Kosovo is expected to surrender to the United Nations war crimes tribunal in the Hague this morning. He is charged with ordering massacres and deporting 800,000 ethnic Albanians. General Dragoljub Ojdanic is likely to be followed...

Milosevic Questions First Prosecution Witness
Slobodan Milosevic today cross-examined the first prosecution witness in an attempt to discredit accusations that the Yugoslav government operated a form of apartheid in Kosovo. At times sarcastic and patronising, the former Yugoslav president read from a stack of handwritten notes as he...

Defiant Milosevic Counters War Crimes Charges
Slobodan Milosevic opened the case for the defence today against charges that he masterminded a ruthless campaign of murder and expulsion in the Balkans in his quest to create a "greater Serbia". The former Yugoslav leader began with a sharp attack against the Nato bombing of Kosovo, a...

Christmas appeal: Refugee Action
When Driton opened his front door in Pristina it was to find his cousins from rural Kosovo begging for shelter. They said they had seen cottages torched and corpses left strewn across the landscape by Serb paramilitaries. That was the spring of 1999. Driton, an ethnic Albanian trainee...

British peacekeeper dies in Kosovo
A British soldier serving in Kosovo has died after a shooting incident, the Ministry of Defence said last night. The unnamed soldier, whose age and home town details had last night not been released, was on peacekeeping duties. He was on duty with a team of soldiers protecting a Serb...

French ex-major denies treason in Kosovo war
A former French army intelligence officer appeared before a military tribunal in Paris yesterday, accused of giving the Serb government secret details of planned Nato air strikes shortly before the Kosovo war. Major Pierre-Henri Bunel, 49, has never denied that in four meetings with a...

KLA - The Army of Liberation
The founding fathers of the KLA were Ibrahim Rugova, the pacifist president of the self-proclaimed "Kosovo Republic", established in 1991 - and Slobodan Milosevic, his belligerent Yugoslav counterpart.