Army chief says Kosovo police represents "security risk"

Source: Politika, Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Serbian Army Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Ljubiša Diković says that members of the Kosovo police (KPS) represent a security risk on the administrative line.

Gen. Diković is seen touring a base near the administrative line on Sunday (Tanjug)

The line runs between Kosovo and central Serbia.
"I believe that only KFOR can guarantee security in Kosovo and Metohija, not the so-called organs of Kosovo," he told Belgrade-based daily Politika, commenting on the recent arrest of two KPS members who crossed the administrative line near Merdare.

Diković also noted that "it is obvious that the KPS, contrary to agreements, wishes to, step by step, impose itself as a factor in those areas".

"We keep KFOR informed about their presence, and they always react and inform us about what they had done about it," the general stated, and added that according to the Kumanovo Military-Technical Agreement that ended the war over Kosovo in 1999, the Serbian Army cooperates "exclusively with international security forces, that is, KFOR".

Asked about why his response to accusations of war crimes that came from Nataša Kandić "did not come sooner", Diković said he sued the director of the Humanitarian Law Center (FHP) as a private citizens, and that it took some time for the lawsuit to be prepared.

"I do not wish to add any significance to the untruths presented by the Humanitarian Law Center by commenting on them again publicly. The court will make its decision," he said.

The newspaper noted in the article that during the 1999 war Diković commanded troops in Drenica in Kosovo, that he today represents "the highest-ranked VS interlocutor in discussions with KFOR", and that his reputation is not disputed in those quarters.