USA: PEACE DEAL ON KOSOVO LATEST скачать в хорошем качестве

USA: PEACE DEAL ON KOSOVO LATEST

(15 Mar 1999) English/Nat Kosovo Albanians told mediators in Paris on Monday that they are ready to sign an international peace plan on Kosovo. As the Kosovo peace talks began once more in Paris, U-S and NATO officials increased the pressure on the Serbs to sign a peace deal on Kosovo. United States President Bill Clinton says that clearly is the right thing to do, now that the ethnic Albanians are pledging to do so. The President spoke of his renewed hope in the Kosovo peace talks during a visit by NATO Secretary General Javier Solana. As the ethnic Albanians pledged to sign the peace deal, President Clinton said he would encourage Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to agree to the terms and avoid further conflict and bloodshed. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Let me say I'm also very, very pleased by the news we received this morning that the Kosovar Albanians have agreed to sign the peace agreement. And I want to thank Mr. Solana and Secretary Albright and all the others who have worked on this so hard. And again, I would encourage Mr. Milosevic to agree to the terms as well so that we can avoid further conflict and bloodshed." SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President U-S officials have said that if the Serbs block an agreement, they will face NATO air strikes. President Clinton supported that claim on Monday. NATO's Secretary General, Javier Solana, also warned Milosevic that the threat of air strikes was still very real. SOUNDBITE: (English) "My answer is that if an agreement which President Milosevic doesn't sign, the risk of a catastrophe will be very likely and we have to prevent that from happening. And NATO will prevent that from happening." SUPER CAPTION: Javier Solana, NATO Secretary General At a joint briefing with Germany's Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping, U-S Secretary of Defense William Cohen said that news of the Kosovar Albanians decision to sign the proposal was a welcome development. SOUNDBITE: (English) "It is positive news today that the Kosovars have agreed to sign the proposal and we hope they will in fact sign the agreement. That will shift responsibility very quickly to Mr Milosevic. He will be under considerable pressure to sign at that point, knowing that he does face the undivided coalition that will insist that he be supportive and the activation order remains in effect, and so we will hope that he will see that the hand writing is very much on the wall for him to observe." SUPER CAPTION: William Cohen, US Secretary of Defense The German Defence Minister added that Serbian leaders must take NATO's present position seriously. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Milosevic must be clear that NATO is ready and decided to act if necessary. The target is to reach a political agreement and to implement it in a NATO led operation. I hope in Belgrade there is no illusion about NATO's ability and readiness to act if necessary." SUPER CAPTION: Rudolf Scharping, German Defence Minister At the U-S State Department, spokesman James Rubin said that the important development was that the Albanians are going to sign - not when. He claimed that there is every reason to believe this substantial step forward on the part of the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We can take yes for an answer, this is a yes. Q: Its not a signing? "This is a yes, we don't have any reason to believe there are any nitpickers in the alliance or in any of the decision making community." SUPER CAPTION: James Rubin, US State Department spokesman 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...