YUGOSLAVIA: AN ADVANCE TEAM OF MILITARY OFFICERS WHO WILL SET UP THE WEST'S VERIFICATION MISSION IN KOSOVO ARRIVE IN BELGRADE

Record ID: 230444

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA: AN ADVANCE TEAM OF MILITARY OFFICERS WHO WILL SET UP THE WEST'S VERIFICATION MISSION IN KOSOVO ARRIVE IN BELGRADE
  • Date: 17th October 1998
  • Summary: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA (OCTOBER 17, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV EXTERIOR INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL 0.05 2. SV/SLV HEAD OF LOGISTICS FOR THE OSCE (ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE), JOHN SANDROCK, AND OSCE TEAM MEMBERS IN FOYER OF HOTEL (2 SHOTS) 0.20 3. MCU SANDROCK SAYING: "WE ARE HERE TO DO SOME OF THE PREPARATORY WORK THAT WILL HOPEFULLY FACILITATE THE ACTIVATION OF THE VERIFICATION MISSION WHICH WE HOPE TO HAVE HERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE" (ENGLISH) /JOURNALIST ASKS "HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT ACTUALLY MAKING THOSE PREPARATIONS" (ENGLISH)/ SANDROCK SAYING: "WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS, AND BY THE WAY WE WILL BE HERE (IN YUGOSLAVIA) UNTIL WEDNESDAY (OCTOBER 21). WE WILL GO TO ALL PROBABLE SITES. WE WILL EXPECT TO HAVE PEOPLE IN PLACE. WE WILL LOOK INTO THE INFRASTRUCTURE IF IT IS AVAILABLE. WHAT WE MIGHT NEED TO BRING WITH US CONNSIDERING THE SIZE OF THE MISSION THAT MAY BE CONSIDERABLE. SO WE WILL REPORT BACK TO THE OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL ON WHAT WE OBSERVE, WAHT WE SEE AND WHAT WE FEEL WE REQUIRE IN ORDER TO BRING THIS MISSION TO THE FULL STRENGTH THAT IT IS EXPECTED TO REACH" (ENGLISH) 1.07 4. SLV OSCE MEMBERS LEAVING HOTEL/ SANDROCK GETTING INTO CAR, CAR DRIVES OFF (3 SHOTS) 1.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 1st November 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVAD1I36P9MJSK9QWVUFTUR7X9BJ
  • Story Text: An advance team of military officers who will set up
    the West's verification mission in Kosovo have arrived in
    Belgrade.They will head to Kosovo on Sunday.

    The officers arrived at Belgrade's Intercontinental
    Hotel on Saturday (October 17) for a one night stopover before
    heading off for Kosovo.

    "We are here to do some of the preparatory work that will
    hopefully facilitate the activation of the verification
    mission which we hope to have here as soon as possible," John
    Sandrock, a retired U.S.officer in charge of logistics for
    the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe
    (OSCE), said.

    The group includes officers from many of the member
    countries.An officer from the Russian Federation is due to
    arrive later on Saturday.

    The group left the hotel soon after for meetings prior to
    Sunday's departure.

    Representative of the OSCE in Kosovo, Wolfgang Petric
    said on Wednesday ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova had
    been guarded in his reaction to the Holbrooke-Milosevic
    agreement.

    Petric also said the diplomatic agreement was no guarantee
    that the KLA would lay down their arms though he appealed to
    KLA members to do so.

    The OSCE will have charge of the unarmed monitoring force
    in Kosovo which is part of the Holbrooke-Milosevic agreement.

    The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR resumed work on
    Wednesday in Kosovo following a Western-backed peace deal that
    staved off the immediate threat of NATO air strikes.

    The Geneva-based UNHCR, which had relocated its staff
    due to the threat of air strikes and reprisals, drove a
    humanitarian convoy to the refugees sheltering in on
    Wednesday.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register