When peace talks on Kosovo resume in Paris, not only the fate of the province’s two million people will hang in the balance, but also the credibility of European diplomacy and the NATO military alliance, European and American officials say. France and Britain, who are leading the talks, plan to give Serbian and ethnic Albanian negotiators only two to three days to accept an international peace plan for autonomy in Kosovo worked out last month or face the consequences, according to allied officials. But allied resolve hangs on final acceptance of the plan by Albanian military commanders who have been battling with Serbian forces for independence of the southern Serbian province, where 90 of the population is ethnic Albanian. The proposed accord offers Kosovo autonomy for the next three years, and leaves its fate alter that uncertain. “The definitive answer will be given in Paris,” Hashim Thaci, a key Kosovo Liberation Army negotiator, said Saturday.
Other Albanian delegates have said the answer will be “yes.”
Meanwhile, back home – The increasingly heated campaign for next February’s precinct caucuses were fueled this week by high-profile visits to Iowa from Vice President Al Gore and former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey. Gore opened the week with visits to both New Hampshire and Iowa. Aides are billing the trips as the kickoff to his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
And authorities did not discount a possible connection between a bombing at an abortion clinic in Asheville North Carolina and serial bombing suspect Eric Rudolph. The clinic was about 75 miles east of the mountainous area where Rudolph was believed to be hiding. A news conference is scheduled for this morning at the U.S. attorney’s office in Asheville. When asked Saturday about a possible link between the explosion and Rudolph, FBI spokeswoman Joanne Morley said: “At this stage, we don’t discount anything.”
And besides fingers cross in Kosovo, that’s a small slice of what happened, this March 15th 1999 as presented by CBS Radio News On The Hour.
