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Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised the possibility his country may veto a United Nations Security Council decision on the status of Serbia's southern province of Kosovo Mr. Putin told the Financial Times in an interview published Monday that if the solution is not acceptable to Moscow, Russia will not hold back from using its veto. President Putin said his government wants the rules of international relations to be applied to all regions equally. He said it would be wrong to apply one rule for Kosovo and others for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the two breakaway regions of Georgia. Russia...

11 September 2006 | 12:09 | FOCUS News Agency Belgrade. The acknowledgement of the Chief Prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal Carla Del Ponte that the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) kills its potential witnesses against accused in war crimes is raising the question for the responsibility of all who have performed war crimes in Kosovo and will no be tried, Vecerne Novosti reports. The Hague Tribunal admits that is a sensitive topic and they are not apt to talk about that. But they acknowledge that without good witnesses protection there is no way to reach the truth. KLA and its ex...

A new videotape aired on Aljazeera television has shown Osama bin Laden and senior al-Qaeda members meeting some of the men who carried out the September 11 attacks against the US in 2001. The 90-minute video apparently shows bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, taking part in the planning and preparation of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people... The footage, first aired on Thursday, also shows Abu Hafsa al-Masri, al-Qaeda's then military leader, and Ramzi bin al-Shaiba, co-ordinator of the 9/11 attacks, meeting in al-Qaeda's training camps in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. The tape also says that a previous unknown...

The AFP reported last month that there was an explosion at the grave of Bosnia's wartime president and Muslim hero Alija Izetbegovic. Izetbegovic, who was finally, reluctantly, being investigated by the Hague for war crimes against Serbs and others at the time of his death, is buried in a "martyrs'" cemetery, as he requested. Naturally, we are meant to think that the grave bombing was committed by a Serb or Serbs, especially with AFP adding this tidbit: "Tensions have risen in Bosnia in recent days after the broadcast of footage showing a former Muslim general, Atif Dudakovic, ordering his troops...

8 September 2006 | 13:31 | FOCUS News Agency Washington. Serbia’s President Boris Tadic stated yesterday evening that during all his conversations with US officials, including with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he felt there was an overall opinion that Kosovo should receive some kind of independence, Serbian online edition Mondo informs. “Such an opinion is felt in all Washington conversations and Serbia should know this. On the other hand Serbia is defending its position – of opposing Kosovo’s independence and of preserving the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country - with legal means,” Mr. Tadic told RTS....

"The main goal of the symposium is to shed light on how Islam spread in these territories based on undisputed historic facts," professor Morina told IOL. PRISHTINA — The Islamic Community of Kosova (ICK) and the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Prishtina (FIS) will co-organize on September 16-17 an international symposium celebrating 600 years of Islam among Albanians. "The main goal of the symposium is to shed light on how Islam spread in these territories based on undisputed historic facts," professor Qemajl Morina, one of the organizers, told IslamOnline.net. Debates about this issue and the role of Islam among Albanians...

BANJA LUKA -- Banja Luka’s ATV station broadcasted footage of Hamdija Delalić ordering murders and the destruction of villages.Hamdija Delalić, commander of the V corps’ 502 brigades of the Muslim military, can be clearly seen and heard in the video calling for an attack on Fikret Abdić and the Republic of Srpska Military. “A breach must be made. Kill all that stands in front of you. I am permitting and ordering that the enemies be killed using all necessary means, knives, bombs, hunting knives, teeth.” Delalić said to his soldiers in the video. “Can we rape?”Commanders of the 505 and...

BELGRADE, Serbia, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Serbia's foreign minister Tuesday said his country would not accept an independent Kosovo either as "punishment or reward." Vuk Draskovic told reporters in Belgrade the province could become independent of the Belgrade government only through an imposed solution by the international community, Belgrade's RTS radio/TV reported. An imposed solution would not bring happiness to the ethnic-Albanians, Draskovic said. "Serbia won't recognize independence of Kosovo under any punishment or reward," Draskovic said. "It might delay Serbia's (European Union entry) bid, however, it will also turn off the European lights on Kosovo forever." The Serbian government...

Serbian President Boris Tadic says that during his visit to Washington this week, he will seek to explain to U.S. officials his country's opposition to independence for Kosovo. Mr. Tadic told reporters Tuesday he will tell American officials that granting the Serbian province independence would threaten the security and stability of the entire Balkans. He called the current Kosovo situation the result of the Serbian government's disastrous policies in the 1990s. The Serbian leader spoke at a Belgrade news conference shortly before departing for the United States. Mr. Tadic is to meet in Washington with top U.S. officials, including Secretary...

Ahtisaari said that a group of experts will visit Belgrade shortly and he hopes that they in Belgrade will show a positive attitude to these proposals. During the press conference, Ahtisaari dismissed the charges of the Serbian delegation that during his Aug 8 with them he told them that the Serbs are guilty as a nation.” Particularly, Ahtisaari said that the Belgrade authorities should understand that the Milosevic policy (historical legacy) should be taken into consideration during the determination of Kosovo status and that “each nation in the world has its guilt and must pay for it.” The Serbian side...

BELGRADE -- Milorad Dodik said that an independence referendum for the Republic of Srpska is unavoidable. According to the RS Prime Minister, the referendum is unavoidable because of the inability to keep Bosnia-Herzegovina unified in the long-term. Dodik said that one of the essential conditions for the RS remaining in Bosnia-Herzegovina is for the Federation’s government to give guarantees that it will not fall into the clutches of radical Islamic politics. Dodik said that the Kosovo discussions are being followed closely in Banja Luka. “Kosovo separating would spark people in the RS to think of having equal rights for us...

As the United Nations tackles crises around the world from North Korea to the Middle East, it cannot ignore the Balkan region -- specifically the challenges facing Serbia. Seven years have passed since the U.N. took control of the Serbian province of Kosovo, and it will soon be time to make a permanent decision concerning its indeterminate status. ... The U.N. must not force a decision on Serbia that is unacceptable to its people and democratically elected representatives. A final decision must be a workable compromise and mutually acceptable to Serbia, ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo and the minority Serbian...

2 September 2006 | 15:23 | FOCUS News Agency Belgrade. The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Serbian President Boris Tadic will sign Thursday a Status of Forces Agreement /SOFA/ in Washington between the government of the Republic of Serbia and the USA. The Agreement is connected to the protection of the status, the access and the use of the military infrastructure in the Republic of Serbia, RTS reported. It will deepen the cooperation in the sphere of defense between Serbia and the USA based on an absolute respect of the two countries’ sovereignty and the UN regulations. Besides,...

30 August 2006 | 14:52 | FOCUS News Agency Banja Luka. USA military forces started preparing for their pullout of the Eagle base near Tuzla, Serbian agency TANJUG informs citing Bosnian newspaper Oslobojdenje. The news of the pullout of the American troops has caused concern among Sarajevo political circles. Citing reliable sources the Bosnian newspaper announced the Americans will leave the base by the end of the year as they will be replaced by a Dutch battalion. The chair of the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Presidency Sulejman Tihic could not confirm definitely the news of the pullout of the US troops...

August 28, 2006 1:57 PM BELGRADE, Serbia-The Serbian Orthodox Church on Monday accused the United Nations' top two envoys for Kosovo of siding with Kosovo's ethnic Albanians in negotiations over the province's future status. The church, which wields considerable influence among Serbs, sharply criticized Joachim Ruecker, Kosovo's U.N. administrator, and Martti Ahtisaari, the U.N.'s chief envoy, saying they "have openly declared their pro-Albanian stances." They "have joined a media campaign for (Kosovo) Albanian interests and wishes. Their recent statements have triggered surprise, worry and bitterness among the Serbian people," it said in a statement. Later Monday, the Serbian government also...

Belgrade. The words of the UN Special Envoy for Kosovo Marti Ahtisaari that while deciding on the region’s status the heritage of Slobodan Milosevic’s ruling will be taken into account triggered violent political reaction in Belgrade, Serbian newspaper Politika reads today. The coordinators of the Serbian negotiations team for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic and Leon Koen pointed out that Mr. Ahtisaari’s statement is making the complex region talks even more difficult and discredits Marti Ahtisaari himself as a mediator between the two parties. On her part the chair of the Coordination Council for Kosovo and Metohija Sanda Raskovic-Ivic said that the...

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Aug. 23 — For a month usually devoid of political activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, August has been unusually fraught, as several incidents have raised ethnic tensions to a level not seen in years. On Aug. 11, a bomb severely damaged the tomb of Alija Izetbegovic, the former Bosnian president. Last week in eastern Bosnia, a group of Muslims forced their way into a Serbian church built on the former site of a mosque. And the broadcast of a videotape showing the wartime killing of an unarmed Bosnian Serb by Muslims prompted calls for a senior...

COPENHAGEN Four Muslims charged with supplying explosives for a planned terror attack in Europe were under surveillance for two years after meeting a radical Islamic leader in London, the former intelligence chief of Denmark said Friday. The four men, aged 17 to 21, were charged Thursday in Copenhagen in connection with a Bosnian terror probe that has also yielded arrests in Britain. Bosnian investigators say the network intended to blow up a target in a European country to force foreign troops to pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq. "We became aware of the group two years ago when its members...

PRIŠTINA -- Beta has learned that the announced meeting between the Kosovo team and the UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari has been cancelled. Martti Ahtisaari (FoNet) Although a new round of talks was announced after the end of the three-hour meeting last evening, sources close to the negotiating team today said the meeting has been cancelled. The stumbling blocks seem to be the number of Serb municipalities and the decentralization talks. The Serb negotiators have in the meanwhile asked the UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari to clarify his statement that “Serbs were guilty as a people”, and warned him that claims...

TEHRAN, Aug. 25 (MNA) – The Bosnian translation of the Iranian book, “The Worship”, written by Hassan Rohaninejad was published by Iran’s cultural attaché to Bosnia & Herzegovina. The book has been translated by the Bosnian translator Ramez Lalic and published in 1,000 volumes for the Bosnian youth. A part of the series “From the viewpoints of Imam Ali (AS)”, the book studies “worship” from Imam Ali’s view and discusses the whys and wherefores of worshipping. A section of the book reads, “Worship means humble obedience to the Most High that has different degrees.” Imam Ali (AS) has divided worship...