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DE RUEHPS #0808/01 2690807
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O 260807Z SEP 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6536
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0852
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFIUU/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PRISTINA 000808 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, INL, AND EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR 
DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: DAS DICARLO AND EU REP LEHNE BRIEF ON ICO, 
REITERATE NEED FOR UNITY 
 
 
PRISTINA 00000808  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In Pristina September 12-14, EUR DAS Rosemary 
DiCarlo and EU rep Stefan Lehne briefed Kosovo Albanian and 
Serb leaders on the International Civilian Office (ICO) that 
will be established to supervise implementation of the status 
settlement.  DiCarlo and Lehne underscored that planning for 
the ICO in no way prejudges the status outcome, but that 
prudent planning dictates early discussion of the ICO's 
mandate and authorities.  The two also stressed that the ICO 
would have limited executive powers and would not have the 
same character or scope as the OHR structure in Bosnia. 
Meeting with Unity Team (UT) members, DiCarlo and Lehne also 
pressed for ongoing unity during the next critical phase of 
the status process and even after status is determined.  They 
also pressed for keeping the focus on Standards and urged the 
leaders to mount a public affairs campaign to prepare the 
Kosovo people for the compromises required to complete the 
status process (e.g., on decentralization).  DiCarlo and 
Lehne made  clear that Kosovo would be expected to embrace 
fully whatever package of proposed arrangements UN Special 
Envoy Ahtissari eventually presents to them.  In a meeting 
with Kosovo Assembly caucus leaders, DiCarlo and Lehne 
insisted on the need to enforce party discipline to ensure 
the Assembly passes whatever implementing legislation is 
needed for the status package.  Later, in a private 
discussion with the Unity Team, DiCarlo pressed harder on the 
theme of unity and chastised the leaders for failing to pass 
a Turkish language amendment to the Law on Languages (a 
Standards priority).  She discouraged useless Kosovar 
speculation on legal scenarios for concluding the status 
process, saying UT members must focus instead on those things 
for which they are primarily responsible:  the Standards and 
preparing the public for the next stages in the status 
process.  UT leaders took this on board, but comments from 
opposition leader Hashim Thaci suggested that he continues to 
view the status process and the period beyond through the 
prism of his own personal ambitions. 
 
¶2.  (C)  Summary, cont.  DiCarlo and Lehne reassured Serb 
mayors in northern Kosovo that the international civilian and 
military presence in Kosovo post-status would protect the 
security of Kosovo Serbs and enforce implementation of 
decentralization provisions.  They urged Serb officials to 
avoid isolating themselves through a counterproductive cutoff 
of relations with the international community after the 
status decision.  Serb leaders, as expected, deemed 
independence unacceptable, but spoke at length about the 
economic/security concerns of their constituents and welcomed 
continued international involvement.  DAS DiCarlo emphasized 
USG commitment to assist the Serb north and, after the 
meeting, inaugurated a USAID road improvement project with 
the mayor of Zvecan.  DiCarlo and Lehne discussed security 
with new COMKFOR LTG Kather, who was confident KFOR could 
handle contingencies in the north.  At a private meeting, 
SRSG Ruecker told DiCarlo he would carry forward her message 
to the Unity Team and the Prime Minister on the need to pay 
greater attention to their responsibilities regarding 
Standards.  END SUMMARY. 
 
ICO and Prudent Planning 
 
¶3.  (C)  EUR DAS Rosemary DiCarlo and EU/Solana 
representative Stefan Lehne, in Pristina September 12-14, 
held joint meetings with key Kosovo Albanian leaders, 
including President Sejdiu, members of the Unity Team, and 
Assembly caucus leaders.  During an initial meeting with UT 
members, DiCarlo and Lehne, along with UNMIK DSRSG Schook, 
briefed the Unity Team on the tentative shape of the 
International Civilian Office (ICO) which will be 
established, per Contact Group directive, to supervise 
implementation of the status settlement.  DiCarlo noted that 
planning for the ICO did not in any way prejudge the status 
outcome, but rather was prudent planning. 
 
¶4. (C) DiCarlo and Lehne explained that the ICO, most likely 
led by the EU with an American principal deputy, would not 
have the extensive authority of UNMIK, nor would it 
administer Kosovo along the model of Bosnia's Office of the 
 
PRISTINA 00000808  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
High Representative; rather, the ICO's executive powers would 
relate solely to settlement implementation, with a subsidiary 
EU-led Rule of Law mission retaining some executive 
authorities in areas of law enforcement and the judiciary. 
President Sejdiu, speaking for the UT members, said the ICO 
and the continued presence of KFOR would be welcomed by the 
citizens of Kosovo, and that he had recently written a letter 
to Kosovo's international partners to this effect.  UT 
Coordinator Blerim Shala asked about the ICO's role in the 
divided city of Mitrovica and was told by Lehne that this had 
not yet been fully determined.  At the conclusion of the 
meeting, Lehne asked that the UT designate a technical team 
that could start work, in tandem with the EU and UNMIK, on 
key post-UNMIK transition issues as soon as the end of 
September.  Kosovo Albanian leaders promised to do this, 
under the leadership of President Sejdiu. 
 
Message to K Albanians: Unity, Flexibility, Education, 
Acceptance 
 
¶5. (C)  At a subsequent private meeting with the Unity Team, 
DAS DiCarlo stressed the need for "absolute unity" both 
before and after the conclusion of final status negotiations; 
for continued flexibility in negotiations; for a public 
education campaign that combats extremist speculation, 
especially on the crucial issue of decentralization; and for 
discipline on the part of parties and the political elite to 
accept fully the final settlement package presented by UN 
Special Envoy Ahtisaari.  DiCarlo reiterated the USG's 
commitment to conclude final status negotiations by the end 
of the year, circumstances permitting, but noted that the UT 
and the PISG had much to do to convince the international 
community of its seriousness. 
 
¶6. (C)  DiCarlo said that the status process is at a critical 
stage and stressed that the UT would not only need to accept, 
but to embrace the final package as eventually finalized by 
Ahtisaari.  She urged these leaders to end unhelpful 
speculation on endgame status scenarios and focus instead on 
the work for which they were primarily responsible  (NOTE: 
Speculation and rumors -- most of them not wholly accurate -- 
are rampant in Pristina about endgame legal scenarios, in 
particular the precise content of a concluding UN Security 
Council Resolution.  END NOTE.)  She also made it crystal 
clear, in response to Thaci's unsubtle suggestion that unity 
within the team might hinge on formation of a broad unity 
government with his prominent participation, that the U.S. 
would not brook holding the UT hostage to a reshuffling of 
government arrangements.  DiCarlo then asked that the UT 
develop a media strategy in the next two weeks that would 
educate the Kosovar public on decentralization and other 
issues that will be in the final status package; UT leaders 
agreed to do so.  Both DiCarlo and COM expressed 
disappointment that passage of a Turkish language amendment 
to the Law on Languages had failed that day in the Assembly, 
due to infighting within the ruling LDK party.  That was 
exactly the wrong message, they argued, to send to the 
international community given the overwhelming importance of 
demonstrating sensitivity to the concerns of ethnic 
minorities. 
 
¶7.  (C)  President Sejdiu pledged continued unity among the 
team.  Thaci agreed, noting that he had met with his party's 
branch leaders the day before and all had extended full 
support to the process, including the decentralization 
proposals.  That said, Thaci criticized the Kosovo government 
for corruption and saw "no obligation" to remain on the team 
after a passage of a new resolution on Kosovo at the UN 
Security Council.  On the Turkish language amendment, Sejdiu 
and Assembly Speaker Berisha both regretted its failure, 
while Thaci and ORA leader Veton Surroi criticized the LDK, 
although not Sejdiu and Berisha personally, for not providing 
more support.  (Note:  At a meeting the day previous with the 
four Albanian party caucus leaders in the Assembly, both 
DiCarlo and COM emphasized the importance of the Assembly 
role in the coming months, as the final settlement package 
will require quick and disciplined action on implementing 
 
PRISTINA 00000808  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
legislation.  DiCarlo and COM also mentioned specifically the 
importance of the Turkish amendment and urged its passage, a 
message that went unheeded by the LDK leadership in the 
Assembly the next day.  End Note.) 
 
Message of Reassurance To/Encouraging Message from Kosovo 
Serbs 
 
¶8.  (C)  Meeting with Kosovo Serb leaders in Pristina and 
with two Serb mayors in Zvecan, a majority Serb municipality 
in northern Kosovo, DiCarlo and Lehne reassured them of the 
international community's commitment to maintain Kosovo's 
multi-ethnic character.  Lehne noted that the Vienna 
technical talks dealt "90-95 percent" with the interests of 
the Serb community in Kosovo, particularly on 
decentralization, while DiCarlo indicated that the continued 
international civilian/military presence in the north would 
ensure that Serb rights are protected.  She urged them, 
whatever the final status outcome, not to isolate themselves 
from the international community. 
 
¶9.  (C)  Serb leaders voiced the expected rejection of 
independence, but, encouragingly, focused more on the 
everyday concerns of Kosovo Serbs.  Moderate leader Oliver 
Ivanovic discussed the need to prevent violence against Serbs 
and argued that only the U.S. was credible enough to take the 
lead on this.  Zvecan Mayor Milovic launched into his 
municipality's problems -- 4,000 IDPs expelled after 1999 and 
during the March 2004 riots, damaged infrastructure, lack of 
jobs -- and insisted he could not solve them without 
international support.  Milovic's colleague, the mayor of 
Zubin Potok, was more emphatic on final status, arguing that 
Serbs would never accept the new institutions of an 
independent Kosovo.  But even if this came about, he said, he 
did not favor "deserting" Kosovo or using violent means to 
oppose it.  Both mayors thanked the USG for financing 
projects in their respective municipalities.  (Note: After 
the Zvecan meeting, DiCarlo inaugurated a USAID-funded road 
improvement project and visited a local library that will be 
expanded to twice its size through USG funding, two in a 
series of projects that will get underway in September and 
October in all three northern municipalities and north 
Mitrovica.) 
 
KFOR Commander Confident 
 
¶10.  (C)  At a lunch hosted by new KFOR Commander LTG Roland 
Kather (Germany) in honor of DiCarlo and Lehne, Kather 
expressed his confidence in KFOR's ability to deal with 
contingencies, particularly in the north, and noted that he 
would soon be making his first trip up to that sector. 
Kather discussed the need to raise the standards of the 
Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), particularly at the senior 
officer level, but was aware of the political sensitivities 
of discussing a future Kosovo security force.  He promised to 
consult closely with his "political masters" on this and 
other sensitive issues. 
 
SRSG Ruecker and PDSRSG Schook: Transition Planning Moving 
Forward 
 
¶11.  (C)  UNMIK SRSG Ruecker described for DAS DiCarlo his 
recent appearance at the UN Security Council session 
reporting on progress in Kosovo, where Prime Minister Ceku 
had also been in attendance.  Ruecker and PDSRSG Schook were 
generally upbeat on the post-status transition planning, with 
Schook noting that a structure had been put in place within 
UNMIK to guide the process forward.  He promised detailed 
plans within two weeks.  (Note:  In a joint DiCarlo/Lehne 
discussion with OSCE head Werner Wnendt, Wnendt also promised 
full cooperation at an operational level with the incipient 
International Civilian Office, pointing to a variety of areas 
where OSCE expertise could continue to be helpful.)  Ruecker 
agreed with DAS DiCarlo that Kosovars needed to get out of 
the business of speculation on status scenarios and turn 
their attention fully to the tasks at hand, and promised to 
carry that same message to the Unity Team and PM Ceku. 
 
PRISTINA 00000808  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
Ruecker, and particularly Schook, evinced some frustration 
with Ceku's tendency to travel abroad rather than focus on 
his standards-related responsibilities or use his personal 
popularity to sell the decentralization package to the 
Kosovar public. 
 
¶12.  (C)  COMMENT:  DAS DiCarlo's visit afforded the chance 
to deliver just the pointed message that the Kosovar 
leadership needs to absorb:  they were encouraged to learn 
that USG determination to proceed with the status process 
remains unchanged, but they were chastened to hear that we 
expect them to move immediately to combat public criticism of 
decentralization and better prepare their public for the many 
compromises that will be contained in the final status 
package.  We will use the positive momentum generated by DAS 
DiCarlo's meetings to intensify outreach to the Serb 
community and to escalate pressure on the Albanian leadership 
to demonstrate leadership in this next critical phase of the 
status process.  End comment. 
 
¶13.  (U) DAS DiCarlo has cleared on this message. 
 
¶14. (U) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable for release in 
its entirety to U.N. Special Envoy for Kosovo Martti 
Ahtisaari. 
KAIDANOW