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Tuesday, October 31 2:28 AM SGT

Moderates Rugova and Kostunica in uncertain dialogue on Kosovo

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Oct 30 (AFP) -

The apparent electoral victory of Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo's moderate nationalist
leader, seems to
confirm a return to moderation in the province, but Vojislav Kostunica's rise to
power leaves its
future unclear.

Rugova's reputation as a pacifist and a man open to dialogue probably gave his
party its stunning
victory in Saturday's municipal elections.

That reputation has also created the view that Rugova is more likely to
negotiate with Belgrade than
his young rival, Hashim Thaci, the ex-leader of the officially disbanded Kosovo
Liberation Army
(KLA).

But the fear of disappointed public opinion, hugely in favour of independence
from Yugoslavia, could
lead Rugova to adopt a tough stance on the sovereignty issue, Western diplomats
say.

Haunted by his ambiguous attitude towards NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia that
began in April
1999, Rugova may thus be forced to get tough with Belgrade to combat accusations
that he is soft
on the Serbs, Western officials believe.

As Rugova announced victory for his party, the Democratic League of Kosovo
(LDK), the veteran
nationalist dropped no indication of a conciliatory attitude towards Kostunica,
Yugoslavia's new
president.

Rugova said it was "too early to say" whether he was ready to meet Kostunica,
preferring to focus
on the 950 Kosovo Albanian prisoners detained in Yugoslav jails.

He also echoed the call of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo: "I ask Paris,
London, Berlin and
Washington to recognise the independence of Kosovo. That way, it will be
quicker," he said.

Rugova argues that UN Security Council Resolution 1244 was just a "provisional
document ... a
compromise that ended the war in Kosovo."

The resolution called for the UN mission in Kosovo to rebuild the war-torn
province, helping it to
establish self-government and granting it "substantial autonomy", while clearly
stating it was to remain
a part of Yugoslavia.

However, Kostunica said Sunday that Yugoslavia "cannot recognize the results of
local elections and
calls upon international bodies to look toward the full application of UN
Security Resolution 1244."

The Yugoslav president said the elections "contribute to the legalization of a
mono-ethnic society that
began to form after the Serbs and other non-Albanians left Kosovo," drawing
attention to the fact
that the province's 100,000-strong Serb minority boycotted Saturday's polls.

He thus appeared to give his stamp of approval to a UN resolution increasingly
rejected by
Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanian population.

But Western diplomats say Rugova remains tainted by his fateful handshake with
Slobodan
Milosevic at the height of Yugoslavia's brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian
guerrillas in Kosovo in
April 1999.

"That gesture now makes any concessions towards Belgrade look suspect and may
inspire Rugova
to maintain a hardline stance," said one international observer, adding that all
major ethnic Albanian
political parties in Kosovo fundamentally hold the same view over the province's
sovereignty.

Rugova has never fully explained the handshake, maintaining the gesture was made
under pressure.

Furthermore, the handshake raises questions over Rugova's relations with the
West. In spite of
remaining on good terms with most European countries, such a move certainly
seemed at odds with
US strategy in the Balkans.

Since the Rambouillet peace accord that ended the Kosovo war, Washington has put
their weight
behind the buoyant ex-guerrilla Thaci, perhaps a misguided choice, given the
recent political changes.