UNMIK/PR/151
The Interim Administrative Council (IAC) denounces in the strongest possible terms the escalating acts of violence which occurred this week in Kosovo.
The attack on a UNHCR-operated bus on 2 February and the events in Mitrovica last night and early this morning in which at least four were killed and many more wounded mark a vicious cycle in the inter-ethnic violence we are committed to prevent. We also deplore that a KFOR soldier was severely wounded while escorting children in the Kamenica-Gnjilane area yesterday.
We call on all inhabitants of Kosovo to refrain from further violence and any retaliatory actions, and to cooperate with UNMIK Police and KFOR in the investigation of these incidents and on finding ways to prevent further outbreaks of violence. We urge local leaders to continue to help and use their influence to end this cycle of violence which has claimed the lives of 6 people of Kosovo over the past few days.
All of us in the IAC would like to express our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families.
The IAC continues the build-up of the Joint Administrative Structure. The first four Administrative Departments --Education and Science, Health & Social Welfare, Budget & Finance (the Central Fiscal Authority) and Local Administration are now formally established. In addition, we have agreed upon the competencies of the different Administrative Departments, named the co-heads for 10 Administrative Departments, and agreed on the enlarged Kosovo Transitional Council. We began discussions of how to assure compliance with the cessation of the existence of parallel structures in Kosovo.
There still remains a lot of work to do until the entire JIAS will be fully functional. Kosovo and UNMIK experts are continuing their work on the rapid setting-up of the remaining joint Administrative Departments and joint local administrative structures.