The Security Council was briefed in closed
consultations this morning on recent incidents that have taken place in
Kosovo and in the Presevo Valley area in southern Serbia.
Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping
Operations Hédi Annabi briefed the Council at the request of the Russian
Federation.
Meanwhile, in Pristina, the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) reported that the violence in the area had diminished in recent days but that the situation still warranted continued vigilance.
According to a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Pristina, more than 2,000 people, both Albanian and Serb civilians, have fled their villages in the tense area of the Presevo Valley into Kosovo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. UNHCR said that persons who were crossing reported that Serbian military buildup continued today and that they feared attack.
"We expect the number of IDPs [internally displaced persons] arriving to continue tomorrow and an increase in the number in need of assistance," UNHCR spokesman Astrid van Genderen Stort told reporters in Pristina. She said the agency was working with international partners "in the planning for a larger influx."