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Late Breaking News |
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| Date: August 20, 1998 2:42 pm Contact: Federation of American Scientists 202-546-3300 |
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Latest News Releases
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Scientists Group Urges Call for Humanitarian Truce in Kosovo | ||
| WASHINGTON - August - 20 - The Executive Committee of the Federation of
American Scientists (FAS) urged the United States in particular, and the Contact Group
(composed of the U.S., U.K.,France, Russia and Germany) to call for a "humanitarian
standstill truce," of unstated duration, in Kosovo. This might persuade the Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) to agree to suspend attacks on Serbs if the Serbs would agree to
stop attacks on ethnic Albanians, burning villages and creating internal refugees so that
relief groups could move freely to help the refugees. Either side could, of course, make
difficult the implementation and maintenance of such an agreement if they wanted. But the aid workers doing the humanitarian work might provide enough additional intelligence to help determine which side or sides were precipitating catalytic incidents. As encouragement to these States to issue this call, FAS noted that a partial and localized truce had been called in and around the town of Pec -- as described in the Financial Times of London of August 18. FAS said that both the KLA and the Serbs might see the advantages in this general truce exceeding the disadvantages -- especially if the other side agreed, and they were forced to consider the political consequences of refusing to agree to a call by the United States or other nations. These would include being seen as the chief obstacles to an interim peace with all the consequences thereof including the foreseeable death of refugees from hunger and exposure in the coming winter. The dialogue in Pristina would certainly benefit, giving cooler heads a time to prevail and buying time to consider alternative kinds of autonomy-plus. And there is reason to believe that the KLA will not participate in any talks unless the fighting is stopped. ------ FAS is a 53-year-old civic organization devoted to science and society issues and especially issues of war and peace. It is democratically organized and sponsored by 59 Nobel Prize winners. -0- |
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