Kosovo-Metohija integral and unalienable part of Serbian territory

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today in talks with Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht that Kosovo-Metohija is an integral and unalienable part of Serbia's territory.

Kostunica stressed that Serbia advocates respect of international law and the foremost principle of the UN Charter, which is inviolability of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries.

The Serbian Prime Minister pointed to the fact that the solution for the future status of Kosovo-Metohija must be based on respect of international law, the UN Charter and should be in accordance with European values and standards.

It was jointly stated at the meeting that Serbia and Belgium have good relations, and there are possibilities of advancing economic cooperation between the two countries.

Kostunica: Ahtisaari is outside his mandate

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today during the talks with the US Special Envoy for Kosovo-Metohija, Ambassador Frank Wiesner that the proposal of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari is unacceptable for Serbia.

Kostunica said that this proposal does not proceed either formally or in terms of content from the negotiations on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija conducted so far. Instead of making a proposal on the future administration of the province, Ahtisaari opened the question of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia without any authorisation and proposed snatching away a part of its territory.

The Serbian Prime Minister said that this proposal is contrary to the UN Charter, the Serbian Constitution and basic principles of international relations, as well as to the international practice of solving disputes within states.

Ahtisaari also failed to take into account numerous proposals made by the Serbian negotiating team in the proposals of the solution contained in the annexes of the document, Kostunica pointed out.

Asked by Wiesner how he sees the continuation of this process, the Serbian Prime Minister said that Serbia first has to constitute its state organs that will proceed from the recently held elections, which is a practice in all democratic states.

Kostunica insisted that in order to continue negotiations, as proposed by Ahtisaari, it is necessary to convene Serbian parliament that will bring decisions on that issue. The Serbian Prime Minister said that Serbian parliament will be constituted immediately following the termination of the election process.

Kosovo Reality Check

State Department press spokesmen Sean McCormack, borrowing a line from FOX News, has called the proposals made by UN Special Envoy Martii Ahtisaari for Kosovo "fair and balanced"-presumabl y because the plan would make Kosovo an independent state without calling it that.

But if the United States thinks we're in the home stretch, think again. Part of the problem is that the Bush Administration wants to get Kosovo "solved" and off the agenda (and perhaps as part of a renewed set of talking points to the Muslim world about how the U.S. is not anti-Islamic) . A number of Democrats want to hold up Kosovo as a positive legacy of their version of unilateralism- in contrast to the way the Republicans have conducted the Iraq war. And if everything can be wrapped up for the 2008 elections, so much the better. And a solution that doesn't cost much would be peachy.

"Our goal remains an outcome that advances regional stability, promotes multi-ethnicity and is acceptable to the people of Kosovo", McCormack said. Well, I have news. No solution on the table can guarantee all three. Certainly not one that doesn't call for a major commitment of time, resources, attention, and forces able and willing to enforce the settlement.

Given that most non-Albanian residents of Kosovo have either left or now live in enclaves, ratifying the status quo sends the signal that ethnic cleansing-at least when carried out by the right groups-works- especially when it takes care of problematic issues raised by "multi-ethnicity. " (Kurds in Northern Iraq have taken notice). If the "people of Kosovo" refers to all communities, then this plan is a dead letter, as Bishop Artimije of Kosovo said this past Friday.

On the other hand, a vast majority of the province's residents want full and unconditional independence- no strings and no delays. So if the Ahtisaari plan depends on ratification in a referendum (and tellingly, there are no such plans for a vote)-it would fail. But then again-settlements are often imposed. As I like to remind people, the Aland Islands settlement (near-independence for the island's Swedish population within a Finnish state)-often held up as a possible model-was rejected in a popular referendum but nonetheless imposed by the major powers and the League of Nations.

Regional stability would best be promoted by strict adherence to the 1975 Helsinki Final Act provisions of no changes in borders. And in the future it will be very difficult-when in efforts to end internal conflicts within a country autonomy is proposed-for the majority not to view this as a half-way house to eventual separation (or for that matter, the minority group may see it in those terms).

There has been a great deal of discussion about a Kosovo precedent "further east" but what might lie "further west"? What about long-held Basque aspirations for full independence? What about the future of Spain as a single unified state? Precedents are always in the eyes of the beholder.

Had NATO been willing, it might have been able to impose an Aland-Islands style settlement for the province back in 1999. But it would have required being prepared to use force and also to break up criminal gangs and militias who would have been ready to fight to preserve their positions. The question is whether an independent Kosovo government today would be ready to do the things NATO has been unwilling to do.

I have to agree with Tim Potier who wrote in our pages in the Spring 2006 issue that not trying to rush final settlements might in fact lead "to a better peace than might be achieved with time pressures." The U.S. approach to Kosovo should not be driven by either our problems in Iraq or the needs of our electoral calendar.

Nikolas K. Gvosdev is editor of The National Interest.

Bishop Artemije: Serbia Will Never Agree to Detachment of Kosovo and Metohija

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 PRNewswire -- Direct from talks in Brussels with the European Commission and European Parliament, Bishop Artemije, spiritual leader of the Christian Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija, today begins a week of talks regarding the future of the province. Under a proposal made February 2 by the United Nations special envoy, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, Kosovo would be detached from Serbia and put on a path to independence. The Ahtisaari plan immediately was rejected by the Serbian government and Holy Hierarchical Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Bishop Artemije: "The [Ahtisaari] proposal is unacceptable to us because it presupposes the separation of Kosovo from Serbia and as such will never be accepted either by the Kosovo Serbs nor the Serbian state. Only a solution found through talks and compromise can be a lasting solution. If the international community imposes a solution it will not bring peace and stability to the region, but rather it will destabilize the region." (Reuters, Feb 2.) Serbia has offered the widest possible autonomy for Kosovo and its large Albanian Muslim population, but Kosovo Albanians threaten further violence if their demands are not met.

Under United Nations civil administration and NATO military control since the 1999, Kosovo has become a black hole of corruption and organized crime activity. Approximately 250,000 Christian Serbs - some two-thirds of their pre-war population -- has been terrorized from the province, along with similar proportions of Roma (Gypsies), Croats, Ashkali, Gorani, and other groups, along with entire Jewish community. Some 150 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries, many of them of world cultural significance, have been demolished or damaged, and new attacks occur on a daily basis.

Bishop Artemije will ask Congressional and the Bush Administration to withdraw their support for Kosovo independence, which would mean:

* Eradication of the remaining Christian Serbs from Kosovo, the cradle of Serbia's spiritual and national life, and rewarding violence and intolerance;

* Creation of a rogue Islamic state in Europe, ruled by terrorist and organized crime figures who are members of the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army," which would destabilize entire west Balkan region and strengthen the terrorist threat to Europe; and

* Violation of all accepted rules of international law, including the U.N. Charter, if a settlement is imposed detaching part of a state's integral territory without its consent, a precedent that would mean destabilization of numerous countries with large ethnic and religious minorities.

Serbia: In Search of a Kamikaze

Serbia: In Search of a Kamikaze Can Karpat, AIA Balkan section

Last Friday, Martti Ahtisaari, the UN representative and mediator for Kosovo visited Belgrade and Pristina to present his proposal on the final status of Kosovo to the Serb and Albanian officials. The reactions coming from the two capitals are not surprising. While Pristina is satisfied, Belgrade is totally outraged. However, there is a big difference between the two: the latter, which has no government for the moment, has to form one, which is entitled to accept officially the loss of Kosovo. So the question of the day is: Who is willing to be the Kamikaze?

Last Friday, Martti Ahtisaari, the UN representative and mediator for Kosovo visited Belgrade and Pristina to present his proposal on the final status of Kosovo to the Serb and Albanian officials.

Although the proposal does not mention independence, it would make it possible for Kosovo to have its own flag, national anthem, army and Constitution. Kosovo would also be able to seek international recognition, which will eventually provide the province with state sovereignty. According to the plan, a NATO-led peacekeeping force will remain in the province and an international representative will be appointed to monitor the government's actions.

Could anyone, who is even slightly acquainted with the Kosovo question, claim that this proposal came as a complete surprise? No way. For months, experts predicted this outcome: independence - in the long run. Martti Ahtisaari had the courtesy not to insert the word "independence" into the document. That is all. The reactions coming from the two capitals are not surprising either. While Pristina is satisfied, Belgrade is totally outraged. Yet, there is a big difference between the two: the latter, which has no government for the moment, has to form one, which is entitled to accept officially the loss of Kosovo.

As predicted, the proposal made the formation of a government in Serbia most improbable. In theory every party (except Liberal Democrat Party) is against the proposal. Even President and leader of Democrat Party (DS) Boris Tadic vowed not to recognise an independent Kosovo. After he met Martti Ahtisaari last Friday, Tadic stated: "I told Mr. Ahtisaari that Serbia and I, as its president, will never accept Kosovo's independence" . Tadic's DS is known as the most moderate and pro-Western element in Serbian political scene.

The outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica declined to meet with Ahtisaari on Friday. And after the proposal became public, he denounced it as "illegitimate" . His party, Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) insists on the negotiations platform for Kosovo, which, among others, foresees the serious aggravation of diplomatic relations with those countries that would recognise Kosovo in the future.

For DS, the most probable coalition partner of DSS for the moment, this clause is risky. Any reaction of this kind would condemn Serbia to diplomatic isolation as it was the case in the Milosevic era. For a party, which supports Serbia's integration into the EU and NATO, such defiance is unacceptable. Therefore, we can conclude that since 2nd February, the dispute over the office of premiership between DS and DSS has no longer any concrete sense. Serbian politics, as Danas put it, became the hostage of Kosovo.

On the other hand, however, Serbian Radical Party (SRS), which is firmly against Serbia's integration into any Euro-Atlantic alliance, would like to pursue this thorny path. Yet, there is one small problem. It is as clear as mud in the eye that the new government will be the one, which, as long as the Kosovo status is concerned, will also sign its own death sentence. There is no other way.

On the one hand, the international community considers Martti Ahtisaari's proposal as "stable and sustainable" , which may be the case indeed. Russia cannot be fully trusted, for she would always cherish her own political interests over Serbia's - like any standard state in the great international chessboard. On the other hand, however, no politician who yields Kosovo would survive thereafter in Serbia. So who will be the Serb Matthias Erzberger? This German politician, who headed the German delegation that signed the Armistice after the First World War, and thereafter advocated acceptance of the Treaty of Versailles, a.k.a. the "Diktat". He ended very dramatically, since he was assassinated in 1921 by members of the Freikorps, the extreme right militia.

Under these circumstances, we can reasonably argue that the Radicals would never accept to be dragged into such Kamikaze-like government. The Radicals are wily enough not to let themselves seduced by Vojislav Kostunica's new Kosovo pose.

The possible coalition scenarios imply DS and DSS as usual. However, the recent Kosovo proposal shook the fragile political balance. No party is willing to commit suicide, for now it is obvious that a clear death awaits them all in Kosovo.

Some analysts predict new elections. This is quite possible indeed. However, if held, the turn-out of these elections would be the most miserable one that the Serbian plural democracy has ever seen. This could definitely suit the Radicals the best, for their electors are very disciplined. And it is almost sure that neither DS nor DSS would ever be able to make the same score.

It seems that unless a political Kamikaze is found, Serbia is in an impossible situation. The Kosovo proposal may be a stable and sustainable one. But at what cost?

Slovakia wants balanced Kosovo settlement

EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - Slovakia is one of the 15 members of the UN Security Council deciding on whether or not the new Kosovo status plan presented by Maarti Ahtisaari will be adopted and, if so, along what lines.

The UN special envoy's plan represents an open proposal but its author has already indicated that he has no intention of entering into lengthy negotiations with the two parties, but rather intends to conduct consultations, limited in time, on certain aspects of the deal. The process is set to culminate with the adoption of a new Security Council resolution, which is a prerequisite for the EU to step in and take over responsibility from the UN in Kosovo and for the presence of KFOR in the area to continue.

No new resolution, however, could lead to a set of unilateral acts whose direction is impossible to control. Several factors will influence Slovakia's position and priorities as we enter into the final act of the Kosovo drama and as we hear more about the Ahtisaari plan.

Slobodan Milosevic's liquidation policy towards Kosovo Albanians caused their exodus from Kosovo and prompted a NATO-led military intervention while the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 then placed Kosovo under interim UN administration. However, this move fell short of preventing the exodus of Serbs from Kosovo, most of whom never returned to the region. This was followed by the building of democratic institutions and several elections, often with the participation of Kosovar Serbs, followed by their boycott of the newly elected institutions.

Now the economy is in dire straits and unemployment rates are extremely high. The omnipresent ethnic tension is aggravated by occasional fatal incidents. This situation calls for massive civilian and military engagement by the international community. The status quo has ceased to be sustainable. While in 1999 Kosovo was faced with a number of different scenarios, the course of events gradually lead to a single one remaining today.

Under the supervision of the UN Security Council and the Contact Group, steps have been taken since 1999 to reinforce the de facto autonomy of Kosovo and its independence from Serbia. Serbia has no intention of agreeing to Kosovo's independence. A certain part of Slovakia's public as well as of its political forces support this stance since they see the matter as a separation of a territory against the will of the state.

However, Slovakia's public is equally aware of the fact that in order to attain its aim Belgrade is offering Kosovo unprecedented, almost absolute autonomy under the principle of minorities' collective rights - which is a model based on the principle that we deem unacceptable. The situation leaves open very few alternatives, none of which seems appealing. There is no ideal solution to it. Nevertheless, our first and foremost interest lies in a future solution that will enhance peace, stability and prosperity in the Balkans.

The outcome must not be a victory for one party and a defeat and humiliation of the other one. It must reflect reality, yet at the same it has to aim at providing a European perspective to the entire region. Therefore, today, EU member states must come together and unite both in finding a solution for Kosovo and in promoting a European perspective for Serbia, while giving some concessions.

This is our responsibility towards our national interests, but also towards our partners in the EU and our allies in NATO. Slovakia is in its second year on the UN Security Council and this month we also hold its presidency. Through our position on the issue of Kosovo, we must show that our country is mature enough to shoulder such responsibility.

The author is Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic.

Serb President to Ask for Delay in Kosovo Talks

Serb President to Ask for Delay in Kosovo Talks By VOA News

06 February 2007

Serbia's president says he will ask for a short delay in renewal of negotiations on the future status of Kosovo. Boris Tadic said the six-nation Contact Group overseeing developments in Kosovo (Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and the United States) should delay the discussions by about 10 days until Serbia's new parliament, elected two weeks ago, convenes for its first session.

Mr. Tadic said he will present this position to a U.S. envoy, Frank Wiesner, in Belgrade Tuesday as well as to ministers of the European Union. United Nations Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari presented his proposals for the future of the breakaway province to leaders in Belgrade and Pristina Friday. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders welcomed the proposals, which Serbia denounced as a recipe for independence.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority is demanding full independence, but Belgrade is strongly opposed. U.N. authorities have administered Kosovo since 1999, when NATO air strikes drove Serbian and Yugoslav security forces from the province following a deadly Belgrade crackdown on ethnic Albanians. Some information for this report was provided by AP.

Muslims stab Kosovo Serb woman, stone school

http://www.serbiann a.com/news/ 2007/01168. shtml

SERBIANNA (USA)

Muslims stab Kosovo Serb woman, stone school February 6, 2007 -- Twenty seven year old Kosovo Serb woman Milica Delevic was repeatedly stabbed, then robbed and left for dead on the streets of the northern Kosovo town of Kosovska Mitrovica. She is hospitalized and is under intensive care after undergoing surgery.

Milica Delevic was ambushed by the group of Albanian Muslims around 7 p.m, in the dark part of the street near the Red Cross building where she worked. Stabbings were done on her abdomen.

Regional spokesperson for the UNMIK police, Larry Miller, confirmed that young woman of Serbian nationality was attacked with the knife and seriously wounded but said that the motive was robbery and not the fact that she was Christian Serb. Miller says that they are holding two men in custody but they are not the attempted killers but alleged witnesses.

Serbs are under constant intimidation by dominating Muslims in Kosovo who have expelled over 200,000 Christian Serbs out of the province in an attempt to make a religiously pure Islamic state.

Meanwhile, a Serbian elementary school in Lipljan was stoned by the group of young Albanian Muslims who broke windows and damaged walls then fled the scene as the police was arriving.

In a village of Crkvena Vodica, Serbian residents were exposed to verbal abuse and threats of expulsion by a marauding Muslim mob that was shouting slurs at them, demanding independence and threatening forced expulsion by sending all "Serbs to Serbia".

In another Kosovo village of Obilic, another Muslim mob was intimidating Christian Serbs and the police personnel while addressing the UN envoy Marti Ahtisaari with a slogan of "How much more should we pay you for independence? ".

February 6, 2007 (10:58 EST)

Serbia will never recognize Kosovo's independence - president

Serbia will never recognize Kosovo's independence, President Boris Tadic told Belgrade's Fonet news agency Friday.

The president, speaking after a meeting with United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari, said that any decision on Kosovo's independence imposed from the outside would contradict the main principles of international law. Plans for Serbia and its predominantly Albanian region Kosovo presented by the UN envoy have been interpreted by both sides as suggesting a division of the territories, and foreseeing eventual independence for Kosovo.

The Serbian leader said the document submitted by Ahtisaari to Serbian and Kosovar leaders, "does not unambiguously state the 'independence' of Kosovo, and does not mention the territorial integrity of Serbia. Mainly because of this, but also partly because of certain other provisions of the document, the plan opens up the possibility of Kosovo's separation from Serbia." All parts of the document will be thoroughly studied, he added.

The president said he intended to discuss the document with all leaders of the newly-elected parliament, and that he hoped this would enable Serbia to defend its national interests and implement a unified policy on Kosovo. The UN Security Council is expected to vote on a final draft resolution on Kosovo in March.

Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a traditional ally of Belgrade, has repeatedly said that sovereignty for the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo could have negative consequences for unresolved conflicts in the former Soviet Union that erupted in the early 1990s. In mid-January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that a decision on Kosovo's independence should satisfy both Kosovar and Serbian authorities, and that a forced decision on the status of Kosovo was out of the question.

Last November, thousands of Kosovar Albanians attacked the UN headquarters in the capital, Pristina, over a delayed decision on their demand for independence. The region has been a UN protectorate since NATO's military campaign against Belgrade to end a war between Serb forces and Albanian separatists in 1999.

BBC: Balkan jigsaw seeks final piece

Gabriel Partos BBC South-East Europe analyst

The blueprint for Kosovo's future that Martti Ahtisaari, the United Nations special envoy, has presented to leaders of Serbia and Kosovo confirms earlier reports that, if approved by the UN, it would set Kosovo firmly on the path to eventual independence. Supporters of the deal argue that resolving Kosovo's long-term status will settle the last remaining problem left over from the violent break-up of the old Yugoslav federation of six republics during the 1990s.

The Western countries in the six-nation Contact Group that has been spearheading the UN's diplomatic process on Kosovo believe it will boost stability across the Balkans and help the countries of the region integrate more closely with the European Union and Nato as they prepare for membership of these two organisations. They believe it will appease Kosovo's independence- seeking Albanian majority, who have been growing restless after living nearly eight years under a UN protectorate.

KEY PROPOSAL POINTS

Contains no reference to Serbian sovereignty or independence for Kosovo
Blocks Kosovo from joining Albania, or having its Serb areas split off and join Serbia
Kosovo can use national symbols
Kosovo can join international organisations
Creates international envoy mandated by UN and EU with power to intervene in government
Retains Nato and EU forces in military and policing roles
Protects non-Albanian minority with guaranteed roles in government, police and civil service
Protects Serbian Orthodox Church sites and Serbian language

Whatever the possible long-term benefits, the Ahtisaari plan is likely to cause some headaches, at least in the short term, among the countries of the region.

Serbia's leaders have made it clear they will not accept what amounts to independence for Kosovo - even if the word "independence" does not feature in Mr Ahtisaari's recommendations.

While Serbia's political parties are engaged in intense discussions on forming a new coalition government following last month's inconclusive elections, outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia has indicated that any new government should sever diplomatic relations with countries that recognise Kosovo.

If applied against the United States and major European countries, such a move would be counter-productive for Serbia. It would isolate Belgrade in a way similar to what happened when it broke off diplomatic relations with leading Nato countries during the conflict between Slobodan Milosevic's Serb-Montenegrin federation of Yugoslavia and Nato, in the course of the war over Kosovo in 1999.

However, for several of Serbia's neighbours the threat of possible diplomatic repercussions is a cause for concern. Some countries are worried that a diplomatic rift with Serbia could make life more difficult for their nationals who are part of the rich patchwork of ethnic communities, first and foremost, in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina. The 300,000 ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina form the largest of these communities. Besides, Serbia is also home - among others - to Croatian, Slovak, Romanian and Bulgarian minorities.

Violated agreement Yet the concerns of these countries - most of them new EU members - are dwarfed by the potential problems facing the much poorer and weaker states of the region.

Kosovo's independence is likely to revive the arguments over separatism in two former Yugoslav republics, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. Milorad Dodik, the prime minister of the Serb Republic, one of Bosnia's two autonomous entities, has in recent months been suggesting that the people of his entity should have a referendum about their future - even though breaking away from Bosnia would mean violating the Dayton peace accords which brought peace to the war-ravaged country in 1995.

Mr Ahtisaari's plan contains no provisions for a referendum in Kosovo, not least to ensure that the Kosovo settlement does not become a model for others to follow. Indeed, supporters of Mr Ahtisaari's blueprint, including the Western powers, are at pains to point out that the Kosovo case is unique, not just in the Balkans, but right across the area of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union where there are still so-called "frozen conflicts" involving national and ethnic groups demanding independence.

Kosovo's unique legal status is due to the fact that it has been under UN administration since the end of the war in 1999. Moreover, any change in Kosovo's status - whether along the lines of Mr Ahtisaari's recommendations or not - is subject to endorsement by a resolution in the UN Security Council. In spite of the insistence that Kosovo should not serve as a model for others, there are worries not only in Bosnia but also in Macedonia.

Many Macedonians fear that if Kosovo's Serbs, who want Kosovo to remain part of Serbia, declare their own secession from an independent Kosovo, that might revive separatist sentiments among Macedonia's large ethnic-Albanian population.

Economic difficulties

However, Mr Ahtisaari's blueprint rules out any partitioning of Kosovo, echoing the guidelines issued to him by the Contact Group. It also bans Kosovo's merger with any other state - which means that the idea of union with Albania (and the creation a greater Albanian state) is not on the cards.

That is not a problem for Albania, which has more than enough economic difficulties of its own to want to acquire further problems by linking up with Kosovo. The prospect of Kosovo's independence is a triumph for Albania - the only country that recognised Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in the early 1990s when Kosovo was still firmly under Serb rule.

By contrast, for other countries in the region, the Kosovo settlement process may yet contain many problems and pitfalls.

Albanian man made £4,000 a day from pimpin

IC WALES (UK)

Albanian man made £4,000 a day from pimping Feb 2 2007 Gareth Rogers, South Wales Echo An Albanian man who moved to Cardiff because he spotted a gap in the sex trade market was earning £4,000 a day from trafficking his female victims.

He lured women to this country with the promise of jobs in restaurants, only to force them into prostitution in a business that netted him £110,000. Albanian nationals Argan Kanani, 22, who lived with his prostitutes in Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, and Erjon Javori, 32, of Sheffield, were jailed for a combined total of more than 12 years for trafficking four Lithuanian women to South Wales and Birmingham.

After the sentencing, at Cardiff Crown Court, DI Tony Brown, who headed the investigation, promised aftercare would be given to all the victims. At the sentencing, Judge Roderick Denyer QC said while he drew back from using an emotive word like slavery to describe what happened to the women, they were controlled and degraded.

Most thought they were coming to work in restaurants or hotels. The court heard how Kanani, who came to this country at 18, was renting a house in Queenwood, Llanedeyrn, and earning up to £4,000 a day.

Kanani said he chose to come to South Wales because Birmingham, where he had started his business, had become overrun with Eastern European sex workers. Prosecutor Robert Brown said: 'The women were all from poor Lithuanian families and easy targets for being tricked into flying here.

'In a strange country and with language problems, they submitted to the regime and were paid a pittance.' Kanani pleaded guilty to two counts of controlling prostitution for gain and was jailed for five and a half years, while Javori was jailed for seven.

DI Brown said: 'We have a mixture of women from inside and outside the EU and we will be very much led by them on what they want to do. 'Our intelligence says that this is a very small problem in South Wales, but this is certainly the biggest case we have had to deal with. And if there are any other victims out there, we would ask them to come forward.'

Sarah Walker, of the English Collective of Prostitutes, said: 'We have a problem that many women are scared to come forward because they fear they will be deported and that is worse than continuing what they are doing. 'But the authorities need to ensure that these women are given the same care and treatment that rape victims would be given and that all complaints are taken seriously.'

Cathy Owens, Amnesty International Programme Director for Wales, said: 'These women should not be treated like criminals, they should be treated as victims of a terrible crime. They need counselling, healthcare and secure accommodation. '

US warns citizens to be cautious in Kosovo

The United States' diplomatic mission in Kosovo on Friday issued a warning to its citizens to be cautious during ongoing efforts to settle the future status of the disputed Serbian province.

"The next several weeks will see a number of important political events in Kosovo, including the possibility of demonstrations and other public manifestations, " it said in a statement.

It said US citizens in Kosovo, whose ethnic Albanian majority wants the province to become independence, should maintain a high level of vigilance since any demonstrations could become confrontational and possible escalate into violence.

"American citizens are therefore urged to avoid roadblocks and areas of demonstrations or where large crowds are gathered, if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations. "

United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari on Friday presented his anxiously awaited proposal to resolve Kosovo's status to the Serbian authorities in Belgrade. He was to due to submit it to the Kosovar authorities in Pristina later in the day.

The southern Serbian province has been run by a UN mission since 1999, when NATO ended a crackdown by Serbian forces on Kosovo's nascent independence movement.

Lavrov says Russia and US still at odds on Kosovo

Moscow and Washington are still in deep disagreement over the future of Serbia's Kosovo province, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.

Speaking to Russian news agencies after a visit to the United States, Lavrov said Kosovo was the key point of disagreement between the two countries.

"We still have no common vision of how this problem should be solved," Lavrov told Interfax news agency. "Kosovo is a subject where our disagreement is deepest, unlike our positions on Iran, Iraq and the Middle East."

On Friday, U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari unveiled a plan to set Kosovo on a path to independence, an outcome that the province's majority Albanians quickly applauded but Belgrade rejected.

Kosovo: The illusions of independence

By M. Bozinovich

January 29, 2007 -- Ahtisaari has written a secret plan for Kosovo status, yet major news media outlets are leaking details about it galore and all the leaked details are aimed at propping up Kosovo Albanian side telling it that there is no reason to pull out of the status process just yet.

So, the leaks are loaded with vivid details that the independence is postponed until a new UN resolution will be written sometimes in summer that will overwrite the existing Resolution 1244 that assigns sovereignty to Serbia and that the replacing UN resolution will pave the way for Kosovo Albanians to unilaterally declare independence so that individual countries will then line up to recognize it.

Continue on Serbiana.com

CNN to pay back money to Serbia for error in commercial video

The CNN network will pay back money to Serbia due to errors in the commercial video presenting Serbia's tourist offer, Serbian media said.

The new promotional campaign on Serbia has the same music matrix as the already existing campaign on Kazakhstan. The mistake was detected and corrected. The Serbian Tourist Organization will receive the money for the days when the commercials were aired. The video has new music matrix, CNN spokesperson said. Kazakhstan kicked off its commercials on the CNN three months before Serbia did so, thus, the mistake could have been made by the same team that made the video.

The videos will be screened 507 times in the course of a four-month advertising campaign.

Amanresorts signs 30-year lease for Sveti Stefan island-hotel in Montenegro

Luxury resort operator Amanresorts signed a 30-year lease Wednesday to renovate and run the famed Sveti Stefan island hotel, once the playground of Hollywood celebrities.

Singapore-based Amanresorts said it would invest €40 million (US$52 million) to revamp the limestone houses and cobblestone streets that drew a Hollywood stars during the 1970s but fell into decline during the breakup of the former Yugoslav federation in the 1990s.

"The objective is to bring Sveti Stefan back to its former glory and pre-eminent position in the tourism industry in the Mediterranean, " said Adrian Zecha of Amanresorts, who signed the deal with Montenegro's tourism and ecology minister, Predrag Nenezic.

Amanresorts is to pay €2.1 million (US$2.7 million) annually to Montenegro for Sveti Stefan and for the nearby Milocer hotel, formerly a summer residence of Serbian monarchs that was nationalized after World War II.

Both facilities will be renovated and reopen for tourists in 2008, said Nenezic. Under the contract, the Asian investors also get another nearby hotel, built in the early 1970s, but will demolish it in order to a build a completely new one on the lot.

Originally a 15th century fishing village, Sveti Stefan consists of a few dozen stone houses perched atop a large, circular rock in the sea linked to the mainland by a narrow sandy isthmus.

In the 1960s, when Montenegro was part of communist Yugoslavia, authorities turned Sveti Stefan into an exclusive resort with 118 rooms and suites. Visitors included former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt and movie icons Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren and Sylvester Stallone. U.S. chess legend Bobby Fischer played his controversial 1992 match against Russia's Boris Spassky at Sveti Stefan, in violation of the U.S.-backed embargo on Yugoslavia.

The turmoil of the 1990s now well behind Montenegro, now a sovereign state following its split last year from Serbia, "Amanresorts will ... bring the highest quality service product to Montenegro," Zecha said, calling it "the next coming thing." The Singapore-based group oversees posh playgrounds around the globe, from France to French Polynesia.