UN slaps arms embargo on Yugoslavia

Russia, often an ally of Belgrade, cast one of 14 ballots for the measure 8211; Resolution 1160 8211; while China abstained. The embargo, which goes into effect immediately, follows a European Union arms Embargo.

The United Nations previously had an arms embargo on Belgrade but lifted it in 1996 after four years of fighting in the Balkans appeared to be ended. The Security Council quot;calls upon the authorities in Belgrade and the leadership of the Kosovar Albanian community urgently to enter without preconditions into a meaningful dialogue on political status issues.quot;

And the council quot;expresses its support for an enhanced status for Kosovo which would include a substantially greater degree ofautonomy and meaningful self-administration.quot; The 15 council members also quot;calls upon the Kosovar Albanian leadership to condemn all terrorist action.quot;

The measure does not call for additional sanctions if Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic does not comply with UN demands.

The six nations making up the contact group on Yugoslavia 8211; the United States, Russia, Britain, Germany, France and Italy 8211; pushed back a decision on possible additional sanctions at a March 25 meeting in Bonn.

France8217;s UN ambassador, Alain Dejammet, stressed in a public council meeting that the resolution was quot;a balanced project likely to contribute to a political solution to the current crisis in Kosovo.quot;

But China8217;s envoy, Shen Guofang, said China8217;s abstention from the vote stemmed from a belief that quot;the question of Kosovo is, in its essence, an internal matter of FRY.quot;

quot;If the council is to get involved in a dispute without the request from the country concerned, it may create a bad precedent and have wider negativeimplications,quot; he added.

Russian delegate Yuri Fedotov voted in favor of the embargo but said the decision had been quot;extremely difficult for Russia.quot;

Fedotov stressed that the goal of the measure was not aimed at quot;punishing anyonequot; but at resolving the conflict peacefully.

But Bill Richardson, Washington8217;s UN ambassador, strongly emphasized that the crisis in Kosovo quot;constitutes a threat to international peace and security.quot;

quot;The international community will not tolerate violence and ethnic cleansing in the region of the former Yugoslavia. We must avoid the mistakes of the past, when the international community waited too long before taking decisive action,quot; he said.