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Belgrade, Pristina working groups for missing persons meet
Pristina,
9 March 2004
Representatives of the Belgrade and Pristina working groups for missing persons in Kosovo-Metohija held their first meeting in Pristina today, which is part of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue launched on Oct 14, 2003 in Vienna.
Chairman of the meeting Francois Stam, who is a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told a press conference after the meeting that the two sides agreed that the meeting be continued in Belgrade in late April.
Stam said that today's meeting was a constructive one because both sides voiced readiness to cooperate on the issue. He expressed hope that the problem of the missing and kidnapped persons in Kosovo-Metohija will not be politicised, since it is a humanitarian problem in the first place.
Stam pointed put that Serbs, ethnic Albanians and other communities all have different lists and data on the missing. According to data by ICRC, in the period between Jan 1998 and late 2000, the total of 3,272 persons from all ethnic communities went missing.
The Belgrade working group included representatives of the Serbian government, the Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija, the Red Cross office in Serbia and the Association of Families of the Missing Serbs and non-Albanians. The representatives were Vladimir Bozovic, Gradimir Nalic, Gordana Vekaric, Olgica Bozanic, Gvozden Gagic and Slavisa Dobricanin.
The Pristina working group gathered representatives of the UNMIK, the Kosovo government and the Association of Families of Missing Albanians - Jose Baraybar, Ragip Zekoli, Milorad Todorovic, Hamit Berisa, Arsim Grdzeliu and Habit Hajredini.
The meeting of the working groups on missing persons is the second in the series of talks between Belgrade and Pristina. The meetings to be held will treat the issues of transport and telecommunications, and the return of displaced persons.
The Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is one of the eight standards that have to be met so that negotiations on the province's final status could be launched in mid 2005.
Stam said that today's meeting was a constructive one because both sides voiced readiness to cooperate on the issue. He expressed hope that the problem of the missing and kidnapped persons in Kosovo-Metohija will not be politicised, since it is a humanitarian problem in the first place.
Stam pointed put that Serbs, ethnic Albanians and other communities all have different lists and data on the missing. According to data by ICRC, in the period between Jan 1998 and late 2000, the total of 3,272 persons from all ethnic communities went missing.
The Belgrade working group included representatives of the Serbian government, the Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija, the Red Cross office in Serbia and the Association of Families of the Missing Serbs and non-Albanians. The representatives were Vladimir Bozovic, Gradimir Nalic, Gordana Vekaric, Olgica Bozanic, Gvozden Gagic and Slavisa Dobricanin.
The Pristina working group gathered representatives of the UNMIK, the Kosovo government and the Association of Families of Missing Albanians - Jose Baraybar, Ragip Zekoli, Milorad Todorovic, Hamit Berisa, Arsim Grdzeliu and Habit Hajredini.
The meeting of the working groups on missing persons is the second in the series of talks between Belgrade and Pristina. The meetings to be held will treat the issues of transport and telecommunications, and the return of displaced persons.
The Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is one of the eight standards that have to be met so that negotiations on the province's final status could be launched in mid 2005.
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