London - Mr Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, warned in Britain last night of the danger of Kosovo becoming "another killing field", and called for the creation of a rapid reaction force to intervene in such conflicts.
If international efforts failed to stop the violence, then the UN Security Council "will not be slow to assume its grave responsibility", he said in Oxfordshire. In Vienna, a UN conference marking the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights risked being clouded by the conflict in Kosovo.
"It is appalling that[the Kosovo conflict] it is so near us."
