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GRACANICA, Serbia - Representatives of Kosovo's Serb minority, holed up in isolated enclaves through fear of revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians, formed an assembly Sunday to press for their rights in the shattered province.
Some of the delegates had to be escorted by the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping troops to the Gracanica monastery outside Kosovo's capital Pristina for the meeting, organized by Serbs who oppose Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
``All the Serb representatives showed lots of willingness to cooperate and they understand that we can survive and persevere here in Kosovo as long as we work together,'' Father Sava, secretary to Bishop Artemije, the most senior member of the Orthodox church in Kosovo, told Reuters after the meeting.
``I'm very pleased to say that Bishop Artemije was elected president of the Serb National Assembly which shows the great support he enjoys from Serbs in Kosovo.''
Around 200,000 Serbs and other minorities have fled Kosovo since KFOR replaced Yugoslav security forces there in June following almost three months of NATO air strikes which coincided with a campaign of terror against Kosovo's Albanians.
Those left behind have gathered in a handful of pockets which have to be guarded by KFOR troops. Albanians say there are war criminals among them. The Serbs say some Albanian leaders want to drive them from the province.
KFOR and the United Nations civilian mission are to trying to involve the Serbs in decision-making on the future of Kosovo, currently a de facto international protectorate, but ethnic tensions are complicating the task.
Father Sava said the aim of the assembly would be to speak with one voice.
``We would try to find a common position toward these problems and have a common voice in our contacts with KFOR and international representatives concerning all problems,'' he said.
Serbs Could Form Wing Of Defense Corps
He played down the controversial issue of whether Serbs in Kosovo should form their own self-defense corps, saying Artemije and other Serb representatives expected KFOR commander General Klaus Reinhardt to cooperate on a Serb role in a future Kosovo Protection Corps.
So far only former guerrillas from the separatist ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army have applied to the Corps, which Serbs say they cannot join while it is commanded by former KLA commander Agim Ceku.
``There is a firm opinion that there should be participation of Serbs in a Kosovo Protection Corps, if not in a separate one then another wing of the same Kosovo Protection Corps,'' Father Sava said.
``I don't think that there would be any Serb ready to accept Mr. Ceku as their commander -- it would be like asking Albanians to enter Arkan's Tigers,'' he said, referring to one of the most feared Serb paramilitary groups.
He said the gathering had brought representatives from all the main enclaves in Kosovo, including the biggest, the northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica, but that it had not included people from Yugoslavia's ruling parties, who call Artemije a Western stooge.
``We don't think they're ready to do anything constructive here,'' Father Sava said.