346 Political and security questions

UNHCR, other international organizations and about 23,000 to 130,000 in nine camps and with local authorities. host families. The plan had to be modified and OSCE report (May). In a May report the refugees were to be moved at a slower pace [S/1999/618], the OSCE Chairman-in-Office said into previously planned camps nearing comple- that the refugee flow from had remained tion. OSCE estimated that there were 441,000 Ko- constant. A disturbing development was the clo- sovo refugees in Albania. sure in early May of the FYROM border (see be- Communications. FRY complained of acts of low). The Yugoslav Army Supreme Command aggression against it from Albanian territory announced a partial withdrawal of forces from [S/1999/406, S/1999/452] and accused the United Kosovo on 10 May. The head of the Kosovo Alba- States of a breach of the arms embargo estab- nian delegation to the Rambouillet talks, Hasim lished by Council resolution 1160(1998) [YUN 1998, Thaci, claimed that the withdrawal was a decep- p. 369] by maintaining contacts with, training and tion and the forces were regrouping to avoid financing KLA via Albania [S/1999/453]. It also ac- NATO air strikes. KLA sources alleged that fight- cused the EU of violating the Charter by impos- ing continued, particularly near the towns of Ju- ing unilaterally a ban on the shipment of oil and nik and Djakovica, near the border with Albania, oil derivatives to FRY [S/1999/497] and brought to and remained a focus of conflict throughout the attention of the Council President or the May. On 20 April, media reports suggested that Secretary-General the bombing of refugees by several hundred FRY soldiers entered three vil- NATO on the Djakovica-Prizren road [S/1999/423], lages inside Montenegro close to Kosovo and the destruction of the town of Surdulica fired on Kosovo Albanian refugees. New areas of [S/1999/496], and the bombing of civilian targets, conflict between Serbian security forces and KLA including power plants and transmission lines emerged, such as in Gnjilane, and, according to and stations [S/1999/510]. FRY's Constitutional Albanian sources, fighting spread to other more Court also sought to establish how NATO's action central areas such as Prizren and Suva Reka, and against the country violated international public Lipjan and Urosevac. The "interim Govern- law and the international legal order [S/1999/479]. ment" of the reportedly issued Austria forwarded to the Secretary-General the a decree forming a National Guard. Vienna Declaration on Peace and Tolerance in The Kosovo Albanian leader, , Kosovo, adopted at a conference in Vienna on 17 met President Milosevic and other Serbian lead- and 18 March, which brought together represen- ers on several occasions. A close aide to Mr. tatives from all major religions in Kosovo to dis- Rugova said that he was in FRY against his will and cuss the crisis in the region [S/1999/405]. was under house arrest in . Criticism against him from across the Kosovo Albanian NATO bombing of diplomatic property spectrum became more vociferous and, in a sur- On 7 May [S/1999/523], China requested an ur- prise move, FRY authorities allowed him to leave gent meeting of the Security Council to discuss for Italy. Fehmi Agani, a Kosovo Albanian dele- NATO's attack on its Embassy in Belgrade. China gate to the Rambouillet talks, was allegedly taken later expressed its indignation and condemna- into police custody and subsequently killed on his tion of the act and lodged the strongest protest return from an unsuccessful attempt to cross the [A/53/952-S/1999/535]. It said the action was a viola- border into FYROM. tion of Chinese sovereignty, the Vienna Conven- The refugee flow from Kosovo across the tion on Diplomatic Relations [YUN 1961, p. 512] and FRY-FYROM border maintained severe pressure the norms of international relations. on the already stretched resources of refugee In its account of the incident [S/1999/529], FRY camps. A new camp in Cegrane, south-west of reported that at 11.45 p.m. on 7 May, China's Em- Skopje, was filled in a matter of days. On 5 May, bassy was bombed by NATO. It said that the build- the number of refugees crossing the FYROM bor- ing was visibly marked and separated from other der led the Macedonian authorities to close their buildings in its vicinity, which indicated the clear border with Kosovo. Following negotiations be- intentions of the aggressors. FRY expected that tween UNHCR and Macedonian authorities, the the Council, as well as the entire international border was re-opened on 6 May. However, the community, would strongly condemn that cruel numbers crossing remained small. OSCE esti- act and demand that those who gave the orders mated there were some 232,000 refugees from would be appropriately punished. It also ex- Kosovo in Macedonian territory. The Albanian pected the Council to demand an immediate end Government, NATO and other international part- to the aggression as the only way to eliminate ners initiated a plan to move large numbers of those crimes. refugees from Kukes in the north of Albania, South Africa, in an 8 May statement [S/1999/ where the refugee population had grown from 530], expressed concern about the NATO bombing