NATO ready to tackle any Kosovo violence

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- NATO's European chief says his troops stationed in Serbia's mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province are ready to contain any violence that might erupt.

Gen. John Craddock, NATO supreme commander in Europe, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington Tuesday, said his plans include a fast deployment of additional forces to beef up some 16,000 peacekeepers in Kosovo, the Serbian news agency Beta reported Wednesday.

Craddock referred to a possibility of violence breaking out if Kosovo Albanians unilaterally declare the province independent of the Serbian government in Belgrade. Talks on the future of Kosovo are deadlocked.

Ethnic-Albanian leaders say they will pronounce independence some time after a U.N. deadline Dec. 10 -- the date international mediators are scheduled to report to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the failed Kosovo talks.

Leaders of ethnic-Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million population, insist on independence from Serbia, while Belgrade offers a wide autonomy for the southern province that it says will always be an integral part of Serbia.

Formally, Kosovo is still part of Serbia, but it has been U.N-governed territory since 1999 when NATO troops were deployed to contain ethnic conflicts.