USA ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER IBRAHIM RUGOVA VISIT 2

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=NJDMqHbdD3M

(29 May 1998) Eng/Albanian/Nat • • Leaders of the restive province of Kosovo are asking President Bill Clinton for urgent U-S action to halt the escalating violence. • • Nearly 200 people have been killed since early March, when Serb police began battling the separatists, who want to cut Kosovo's ties with Serbia. • • Though Serbs claim the province as a homeland, Kosovo Albanians compromise 90 percent of the population. • • Kosovo leaders led by ethnic Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova met with President Clinton in Washington on Friday. • • A six-country Contact Group has been trying to get the Serbian government to negotiate with the ethnic-Albanians. • • With little progress made so far, Rugova hopes his visit to the White House will find a path towards peace. • • SOUNDBITE: (Albanian with English translation) • This is an historical day for Kosovo. We urge the United States to undertake urgent action to bring to a cessation the violence which is underway. We also reiterated that the best solution for Kosovo is an independent country. We also urged for some kind of international - or transitional stage for Kosovo so that the violence is brought to an end and a political solution is sought. We urge for increased U-S presence in Kosovo and more protection on the part of the United States for the people of Kosovo. • SUPERCAPTION: Ibrahim Rugova, ethnic Albanian leader in Kosovo • • Many fear the ethnic Albanian leader is losing credibility, as Kosovo's youth increasingly support the militants fighting for independence. • • Both Serb and Albanian sources in Kosovo claim ethnic Albanian militants and Serb forces clashed for the fifth day in the Decani region, southwest of the provincial capital Pristina. • • At a press conference later on Friday, Kosovo negotiator Veton Surroi said the violence is escalating in the province. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • We consider - I repeat - the situation in Kosovo is extremely dangerous. These are the first stages of war. We want not only to reverse that situation but to return to a position in which there could be negotiations, but to in an overall manner create conditions for a future peaceful status of Kosovo with the will of the Kosovor people. • SUPER CAPTION: Veton Surroi, Kosovo Negotiator • • Administration officials said Clinton would assure the Kosovo leaders of U-S support for newly initiated talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. • • Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2.2 million people are ethnic Albanians, most of whom seek independence from Serbia, which revoked Kosovo's autonomy in 1989 and has ruled it since with a heavy hand. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

#############################

New on site