HL Deb 06 July 1999 vol 603 c83WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 22 June (WA 83) concerning Ministers meeting with "senior Kosovo Liberation Army representatives" (a) how such "representatives" were selected; (b) what is the spectrum of Kosovo/Albanian opinion which the Kosovo Liberation Army is taken to represent; and (c) whether Ministers meet other elements of Kosovo/Albanian opinion. [HL3384]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

It is for the KLA to choose its own representatives: this is not a matter for Her Majesty's Government. What matters is ensuring that the KLA fulfils its undertaking to demilitarise. We have no means of quantifying the extent of public support for the KLA. It is one political grouping among many in Kosovo. Ministers have met a wide variety of Kosovo Albanian leaders and opinion formers, most recently when the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (accompanied by his French, German and Italian colleagues) visited Kosovo on 23 June.