Belgian ambassador to lead UN mission

Belgian ambassador to lead UN mission

The mission is expected to arrive in Belgrade on April 26, and travel to Priština on April 27.

The delegation is expected to visit the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica. They were also to visit the Serbian village of Svinjare, destroyed in 2004 riots by Albanian mobs, as well as the ethnic Albanian village of Mala Kruša, where 116 Albanian men were killed by Serb forces in 1999, the AP reported.

Priština daily Zen Monday quoted its anonymous diplomatic sources as saying that the UN mission was set to meet with top Kosovo officials and international representatives in Priština.

The Belgian Office in Priština issued a statement saying that the mission would have three priorities: to attain first-hand insight into the implementation of the UN Resolution 1244 provisions and standards; to meet representatives of the Kosovo institutions, political parties and ethnic minorities.

The third priority is for the mission to meet with the officials of the international missions operating in Kosovo.

According to the same statement, the UN fact-finding delegation will go to Vienna afterwards and meet with high EU officials.

Last week, Serbian government insisted that the UN mission visit Serb enclaves in Kosovo, as Serbian ambassador to the UN Pavle Jevremović officially conveyed.

Sending of the UN mission has been initiated by Russia, opposing solutions unacceptable to both sides, and insisting that the implementation of the UN Resolution 1244 be fairly assessed.

New U.S. ambassador to the UN goes to Kosovo

Zalmay Khalilzad, formerly the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, has been appointed the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

He took up his post on Monday, succeeding ambassador John Bolton, who left last December. Bolton had failed to win Senate approval for his nomination after serving a 16-month tenure in which he aggressively pursued U.S. interests but clashed with fellow ambassadors on his tactics.

Khalilzad will travel immediately, joining a U.N. mission that departs New York late on Tuesday for  Kosovo. His participation was encouraged by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.S. officials said.