Holbrooke Presses Milosevic on Kosovo
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke struggled Thursday to negotiate a cease-fire for warring Kosovo, pressing Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to pull back his forces in the separatist province.
Aiming to head off NATO intervention in Kosovo, Holbrooke spent hours with Milosevic in the presidential palace for the second time in three days.
The West’s key point now, Holbrooke told reporters, is that “the armed forces on both sides should dismantle the checkpoints and withdraw to . . . barracks.â€
Christopher Hill, U.S. ambassador to Macedonia, later softened that demand, saying only “special police who have been engaged in some of the operations need to be pulled back.â€
Fighting between Serb-led Yugoslav forces and ethnic Albanian separatists has left more than 300 dead this year. The rebel army is attracting growing support in the predominantly Albanian province.
The State Department said it plans shortly to open a political dialogue with the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, which is believed to have taken control of about a third of Kosovo in recent months.
Holbrooke was scheduled to return to Kosovo today.
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