The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, yesterday left it up to the UN Security Council to decide whether Belgrade had complied with the terms of a UN resolution on Kosovo. However, in a report to the 15-member Security Council that could lead to possible military action, Mr Annan made it clear that the council's list of demands to Belgrade in a September 23rd resolution had not been met.
"I do not have the means necessary to provide an independent assessment of compliance as required by the Security Council. Therefore the council may wish to make its own judgment in this respect on the basis of the present report," he said.
Mr Annan pointed out that "the great majority" of atrocities in the Serbian province had been carried out by Serbian security forces.
He was asked by the UN Security Council in resolution 1199 to report on compliance with the resolution by both Belgrade and the Kosovo Albanians fighting for independence. The council warned in the resolution of "further action" unless Belgrade complied with a specific list of demands, including a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Serbian forces and the opening of negotiations.
Mr Annan said that "the violence on all sides has to be brought to a halt" and that "full humanitarian access must be granted". Conditions must be created to enable 300,000 refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes.
Mr Annan noted that negotiations between Belgrade and the Kosovo Albanian leadership had not yet opened, and called for their resumption "without delay".
Regarding a Serbian withdrawal, Mr Annan said that "according to reports from the field, the withdrawal so far appears limited, and it would seem that the fear that led civilians to flee remains".
A western diplomat said yesterday that Mr Annan's report showed that "there are definitely violations of 1199". However, another diplomat said that the report was "balanced" and pointed to Mr Annan's emphasis on the need for a political solution.
Amid widespread condemnation of massacres a week ago attributed to Serbian security forces, the Security Council asked the secretary-general to bring forward his report to yesterday.
The council is to use the report as a basis for discussions today in which the 15 members could decide whether to authorise NATO to use force against Belgrade in an attempt to end a seven-month military campaign. Diplomats said the council would discuss whether the next step should be the adoption of a new resolution authorising NATO to act.
Washington argues however that a second UN resolution authorising force is not necessary, and that NATO already has the authority to act. In the Security Council, there is notably resistance from the permanent members Russia and China to NATO military strikes in Serbia.
The United Nations does not have its own representatives on the ground in the province, and Mr Annan relied on reports from NATO, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other sources.
The Yugoslav Prime Minister, Mr Momir Bulatovic, attacked the UN report as "one-sided and not taking account of the facts". The Yugoslav government had examined the report and judged it to be "not based on a direct examination of the Kosovo situation", Mr Bulatovic told parliament.
He said that Mr Annan had written his report before the latest developments in Kosovo and had not taken account of an official letter by the Yugoslav Foreign Minister, Mr Zivadin Jovanovic.
The prime minister added that Belgrade had invited representatives of Security Council memberstates to Yugoslavia to see for themselves what the situation was.
Meanwhile, the Russian President, Mr Boris Yeltsin, has informed Mr Annan by telephone of his efforts to put pressure on Belgrade to conform with the UN's resolution on Kosovo, UN sources said.