G-8's 'general principles' for solving Kosovo crisis

Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight (G-8) countries issued the following "general principles" for a political solution to the Kosovo crisis after a meeting yesterday near Bonn, Germany. The G-8 includes the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada - the world's leading industrial countries - and Russia.

The G-8 will seek a United Nations Security Council resolution along these lines and consult with China to avoid its veto on the Council.

*Immediate and verifiable end of violence and repression in Kosovo.

*Withdrawal from Kosovo of military, police, and paramilitary forces.

*Deployment in Kosovo of effective international civil and security presences, endorsed and adopted by the United Nations, capable of guaranteeing the achievement of the common objectives.

*Establishment of an interim administration for Kosovo to be decided by the UN Security Council to ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life for all inhabitants in Kosovo.

*The safe and free return of all refugees and displaced persons and unimpeded access to Kosovo by humanitarian aid organizations.

*A political process toward the establishment of an interim political framework agreement providing for a substantial self-government for Kosovo, taking full account of the Rambouillet accords and the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the other countries of the region, and the demilitarization of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

*Comprehensive approach to the economic development and stabilization of the crisis region.