Belgrade, August 28 - Preparations are being made in the province of Kosovo and Metohija for de facto changing the internationally recognized and guaranteed state border. To this end, Kosovo and Metohija is being systematically ethnically cleansed of its non-Albanians, with the collaboration of the KFOR and the U.N. mission UNMIK, Assistant Foreign Minister Miroslav Milosevic said, briefing foreign diplomats in Belgrade.

Milosevic described the situation in Kosovo and Metohija as disastrous, saying the violation of U.N. Resolution 1244 and the Kumanovo Military-Technical Accord by KFOR and UNMIK and their collusion with ethnic Albanian terrorists and separatists of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has plunged the province in chaos, terrorism and all kinds of international organized crime.

"I am sure it is no longer necessary to offer proof that a process of total Albanisation of Kosovo and Metohija is in progress under the patronage of or with direct logistic and other support from KFOR and UNMIK, headed by Bernard Kouchner. The fact that the worst crimes in this region since World War II are being committed under the U.N. flag should be a warning that the abuse of the United Nations for partial political interests might have incalculable consequences, because developments in the province directly threaten stability in the region of southeast Europe and beyond", Milosevic said.

He went on to say that the deliberate and systematic violation of U.N. Resolution 1244, among other things, totally exposes the strategy of individual international factors towards Yugoslavia and shows the true reasons for last year's NATO aggression.

"The Yugoslav government believes that the U.N. Security Council, from the point of view of its obligations under the U.N. Charter and Resolution 1244, is responsible for the present situation", he said.

He added that the Council is also to blame for the constant violation of Yugoslavia's sovereignty and territorial integrity by KFOR and UNMIK, headed by Bernard Kouchner.

According to Milosevic, it is a fact that individual U.N. Security Council member-stats systematically sabotage its work, but this does not detract from the responsibility of all Council members.

He went on to list a series of disastrous consequences of the violation of the resolution, as well as of the irresponsible attitude of the Council to this, especially as concerns the threat to the fundamental human right to life.

"Over the past month, we have been witnessing an unprecedented escalation in crime targeting Serbs, Montenegrins, Romanies, Muslims, ethnic Turks, Goranies, ethnic Egyptians and other non-Albanians.

"The main target of terrorist attacks now are children, which monstrous practice serves to intimidate the remaining non-Albanians and induce them to move out", Assistant Foreign Minister Milosevic said.

He quoted that, from the time KFOR and UNMIK were deployed to Kosovo-Metohija in June 1999 until Aug. 16, 2000, there were 5,089 terrorist attacks - 4,776 targeting Serbs and other non-Albanians. Of the 1,041 murders, 910 victims were Serbs and Montenegrins.

Milosevic pointed out that, despite opposition from much of the international community and many Security Council members, Bernard Kouchner has scheduled so-called local elections in Kosovo-Metohija for Oct. 28, although clearly not even the most elementary conditions exist for the polls to be democratic, free or fair.

"The purpose of the elections is to give legitimacy to a policy of fair accompli, to give common terrorists and separatists the semblance of legitimate representatives of all people in Kosovo-Metohija, and to complete the process of ethnic cleansing of the province of its Serbs and other non-Albanians", he said. He stressed that Yugoslavia and its republic of Serbia, just like most other U.N. members, will not accept the results of these elections, or any other UNMIK decisions that are in violation of Resolution 1244 and that do not respect Yugoslavia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Another important feature of the present situation in Kosovo- Metohija, according to Milosevic, is an escalation of brutal plunder and usurpation of private and state property, in which KFOR and UNMIK directly take part. He stressed that this gives an added impulse to the exodus of the remaining Serbs and other non-Albanians, quoting that more than 400 public companies and 1,000 private companies have been seized and wrested from their rightful owners in the province.

"A drastic example of usurpation was the storming of the Trepca lead smelter by strong KFOR and UNMIK forces in the night of Aug. 13-14. Threatening massive use of force against the employees and peaceful civilians, they seized the production facilities that employ more than 2,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians.

"KFOR and UNMIK, headed by Bernard Kouchner, are trying to conceal a total failure of the mission to Kosovo-Metohija, which clearly shows that it is not to be expected that they can make any radical changes in their behaviour in the direction of a strict implementation of U.N. Resolution 1244 and the Military-Technical Accord, or that the U.N. Security Council will make them do it. There is no excuse for KFOR and UNMIK to stay on in the province any longer", Assistant Foreign Minister Milosevic stressed.

He went on to list the Yugoslav federal government's demands from the Security Council in this respect:

- to condemn and prevent further actions by Bernard Kouchner and KFOR and UNMIK officials in violation of U.N. Resolution 1244, and establish their accountability;

- to take the necessary steps to indemnify Serbia and Yugoslavia for losses caused by UNMIK and KFOR, especially to the people, the economy and the cultural heritage; to condemn in the strongest terms NATO's continued aggression on Yugoslavia through financial, political, media and military support for the ethnic Albanian separatists and terrorists in Kosovo-Metohija.

Milosevic especially stressed that, on the U.N. mission's withdrawal, the Yugoslav government is both able and willing to guarantee peace and the rule of law, protect the property and safety of all people in Kosovo-Metohija, and the full equality of all ethnic communities.

The government, he said, is also able and willing to secure an immediate return and redeployment of the Yugoslav army and police in the province and provide full protection for the internationally recognized Yugoslav borders, revive legal bodies of provincial and local administration and the operation of all vital public services, and take the necessary steps for a safe and unhampered return of all displaced people.

"Parallel with the emplacement of peace, law and personal safety for the entire population of the province, the governments of Yugoslavia and Serbia are willing to open a political process for defining `substantial autonomy' under the law and the Constitution for this Serbian province as an inseparable part of the constitutional, legal and economic system of the Republic of Serbia, directly involving in the process legitimate representatives of the state and of all ethnic communities in the province, and with the adequate representation of the U.N. Security Council", he said.