UN envoy sets up review of mission's response to recent violence in Kosovo

The top United Nations envoy for Kosovo announced today he is setting up a review body to study the UN mission's response to the deadly violence in the province earlier this month and to make recommendations on how it can react better in future crises.

Harri Holkeri, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Kosovo, said an international judge or jurist will chair the Crisis Management Review Body, which will include qualified crisis management experts. The Body will report back to him on its findings within 30 days of beginning work.

More than two dozen people were killed, hundreds of others were injured, homes and religious sites were burnt and at least 3,000 people driven from their homes during two days of rioting across Kosovo starting 17 March. At the time the Security Council issued a statement by its President denouncing the "large-scale inter-ethnic violence."

In a statement issued in Pristina, Kosovo's capital, Mr. Holkeri said the review body will examine whether security and protection measures and procedures can be improved for future crises. It will also assess the performance of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

The statement said some of the measures to be examined by the body include better mobilizing the police to control the situation, greater coordination between security agencies and more action to protect minority communities and cultural or religious sites.

Meanwhile, Mr. Holkeri delivered a message on behalf of Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a memorial ceremony for two police officers killed in the days following the rioting in Kosovo.

Offering his condolences to the families of the two officers, Mr. Holkeri said the people who committed the crime should not underestimate the determination of the UN and the international community to continue their work in Kosovo.

The two officers, one from Ghana and one serving in the Kosovo Police Service, were shot dead on 21 March while carrying out routine work in a clearly marked car near the town of Podujevo in the Pristina region. A UN language assistant travelling with them remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.