Kosovo (Hansard, 25 October 1999)

§ Mr. Winnick
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many have been arrested in Kosovo for crimes against Serbian civilians since NATO liberated Kosovo. [94933]

§ Mr. Vaz
Specific figures for those arrested for crimes against Serbian civilians since NATO liberated Kosovo are not currently available from UNMIK.
I can disclose that 200 individuals are currently in prison for committing various crimes. The ethnic breakdown of those individuals is: 1 Montenegrin, 1 Macedonian, 1 Bosniac, 4 Roma, 36 Serbs and 157 Albanians.

§ Mr. Winnick
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent murder of a UN official in Kosovo; and if any arrests have been made over the crime. [94934]

§ Mr. Vaz
We wholeheartedly condemn the recent murder of UN worker Valentin Krumov. There can be no excuse or justification for such acts of violence. The death of a UN employee just starting his work to contribute to the reconstruction of Kosovo is particularly tragic.
We join our international colleagues in calling for swift action to bring those responsible to justice. The forces of law and order in Kosovo under the direction of the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) have launched an investigation which is on-going. I can therefore give no further details at this stage.

§ Mr. Winnick
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what steps NATO has taken to make clear that Serbs have a settled future in Kosovo; and if steps will be taken to encourage Serbian civilians to stay there; [94936]
(2) what action is being taken by NATO in Kosovo to protect the lives of civilian Serbs. [94935]

§ Mr. Vaz
The NATO-led international force in Kosovo, KFOR, has from the beginning of its deployment tried to persuade Serb citizens in Kosovo to remain in the province. KFOR troops, as part of their routine duties, maintain close contact with Serb citizens in Kosovo in order to help deter any violence against them, and so encourage them to remain.