Kosovo Talks Go On Amid Heavy Fighting

After some of the heaviest fighting in weeks, a senior U.S. envoy stepped up efforts Tuesday to cobble together peace talks in Kosovo, admitting progress has been slow.

Albanian sources, meanwhile, reported a fourth day of clashes near the strategic town of Orahovac in central Kosovo, and said at least 36 ethnic Albanians had been killed.

The fighting cast doubt on the possibility of a negotiated settlement between Serbia, the dominant republic of Yugoslavia, and the independence-minded Albanians, who make up 90% of Kosovo’s population.

Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Macedonia, met Tuesday with Ibrahim Rugova, the moderate ethnic Albanian leader, a day after Hill conferred with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade.

No details were available on Hill’s talks with Milosevic. However, Zoran Lilic, a top Milosevic aide, said Yugoslavia was ready to offer the highest level of autonomy to the Kosovo Albanians.

Before meeting Rugova, Hill indicated that no quick solution to the Kosovo crisis was in sight. Asked if progress had been made, he said, “That would be too strong, but we are trying.”

Rugova’s party, the Democratic League of Kosovo, on Tuesday condemned what it called the “violence and massacre by Serb forces in Orahovac.” The town appeared largely under Serbian control after the Kosovo Liberation Army launched a strong attack there Saturday.

The Kosovo Information Center, which is close to ethnic Albanian politicians, said that Serbian forces were still shelling KLA positions in Orahovac on Tuesday and that fighting was also raging in outlying villages.

State radio in the Albanian capital, Tirana, reported Tuesday evening that 11 dead were still lying in the streets.