Kosovo minister's statement on Serb return is "supreme cynicism" - Serbian body
BBC Monitoring European. London: Dec 23, 2005. pg. 1

Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet

Belgrade, 22 December: The Coordination Centre [KC] for Kosovo- Metohija has described the statement by the Kosovo minister for local self-administration and the chairman of working groups for return and freedom of movement, Lutfi Haziri, as "supreme cynicism". According to the KC statement, Haziri said that the authorities in Belgrade obstructed the return of Serbs to Kosovo-Metohija, turning these people into political hostages.

"In a situation where there is a very sparse return to Kosovo- Metohija, returnees are exposed to a danger of being killed or, to say the least, physically abused by ethnic Albanians living there - when restored Serb houses are further damaged and attacked, and the freedom of movement limited to the minimum - Haziri's statement comes as merely additional proof that the Albanian side is widening the gap between what it publicly says and what it does in Kosovo- Metohija," the Coordination Centre statement says.

"Especially disturbing is Haziri's statement that, as he put it, 60,000 Serbs have been displaced from Kosovo-Metohija. This statement comes in spite of the uncontested fact confirmed by representatives of the international community in Kosovo - that over 200,000 Serbs have been expelled from Kosovo since 1999," the statement adds.

Credit: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1655 22 Dec 05

FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1655 22 Dec 05/BBCMonitoring/(c) BBC
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