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By Kurt Shork The parties had been given days to wrap up the agreement, but hundreds of people were gathered in a narrow corridor outside the conference room, amid an exhausting military routine, with disgruntled Yugoslavs and Albanians who seemed to be playing a senseless game with the clock. The difficult talks in the final phase, on Monday evening, seemed to be dragging on endlessly. Western officials hinted that there was a small chance the Serbs and Albanians could find a formula in the peace agreement that would send a 28,000-strong NATO force back to Kosovo. The envoys, every 40 minutes as they were given time in a conference room with maps, said that they doubted the reports of clashes and explosions heard in northern Kosovo, with Yugoslav forces pressing ahead in a campaign against ethnic Albanian guerrillas. The governments did not back down, while the Russian government had become determined to prevent Kosovo, which had accompanied recent events with pressure in the agreement. The American envoy Christopher Hill said early in the evening that direct talks with Milošević and the Serbian leaders had helped, which had contributed to a decision. The envoys said that the involvement of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević came during the night and that there had been movement from Tirana on Wednesday. “If Albanians and Serbs can meet on a few key issues and refer them to Rambouillet for the moment in the field, it will be an achievement,” said an anonymous diplomat. Western envoys were trying to persuade Kosovo Albanian leaders to stop insisting on a referendum on independence for 3 years after an autonomy arrangement is established. Some members of the Kosovo Albanian delegation have threatened to walk out if Prishtina does not ultimately win independence. The governments insist that the Albanians must sign an agreement without any explicit reference to independence, which includes a NATO-led peacekeeping force of 28,000 troops. The completion of a text that would satisfy both the Kosovo Albanians and the government in Belgrade was unlikely, because of disagreements between Serbs and Albanians. Milošević’s involvement in talks with French President Jacques Chirac on Sunday night and with British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook on Monday night raised hopes that a compromise formula would be found. But the mission of the high-level envoys, led by British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine, was to understand how ethnic Albanians could give up independence, which Albanians see as their right. In conclusion, a Serbian official, who asked not to be named, declared that “a new Yugoslavia” could not be achieved by offering self-government to Kosovo. He added that Albanians would not be included in the new government to be formed after elections planned for this year.

Berisha says “NO” to the democrats over parliament P. 3

Telekom is investigating the impulses P. 5

“Operation 2” ready against speedboats P. 8

Kuk and Vëllime return again to Rambouillet P. 12

“Koha Jonë” only 30 lekë