Senior Yugoslav envoy denies reports on exodus

JAKARTA (JP): A top Yugoslav diplomat stationed here denied western media reports on Tuesday that the flow of refugees from Kosovo resulted from ethnic cleansing by Serb forces.

Yugoslavia's Minister Plenipotentiary and Charge D'affairs Dusan Stojkovic told Indonesian journalists that the people were fleeing Kosovo to escape to NATO bombing.

"We're not pursuing ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. It is NATO which is pursuing genocide there," Stojkovic said.

"They (NATO) have already ruined Yugoslavia. Water supply, power supply, hospitals, all are ruined. What's that mean? That means genocide," he said, adding that a number of chemical factories had also been damaged and could pose a hazard to people's health.

He called on NATO to stop bombing Yugoslavia so as to allow refugees to return to Kosovo and let both sides pursue a political solution. NATO has repeatedly said that bombing would continue until President Slobodan Milosevic bows to the alliance's demands.

"I was expecting a bit stronger reaction from Indonesia to the Kosovo problem," Stojkovic said when asked to comment on Jakarta's stance on the issue. He said he could understand Indonesia's attitude because of its overwhelming domestic problems. "But overall relations between Indonesia and Yugoslavia have always been friendly since the Sukarno era," he added.

Stojkovic also pointed out that his country's proposal to solve the Kosovo crisis was basically similar to what Belgrade offered in the Rambouillet meeting in February. The only change is Yugoslavia's acceptance of a peacekeeping force under the auspices of the United Nations and not NATO.

During the Rambouillet peace talks, Yugoslavia offered a high level of autonomy for Kosovo, but the western countries rejected it. Despite much pressure from the western countries, Yugoslavia has stuck to its terms, which resulted in the NATO air strikes.

Touching on a referendum proposal for Kosovo, Stojkovic said that discrimination against Serbs in Kosovo had long been practiced by Albanian Kosovars, who account for about 65 percent of Kosovo's total population.

"After discriminating against the Serbs and trying to get them out of Kosovo, the Albanian Kosovars now ask for a referendum. It's like Glodok in Jakarta. It's been dominated by Chinese. But would you accept if it was taken over by the Chinese through a referendum?" he remarked. (bnt)