http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030919/ap_on_re_eu/kosovo_us_clinton_1
Clinton to Get Honorary Degree in Kosovo
Fri Sep 19,2003
By GARENTINA KRAJA, Associated Press Writer
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - Thousands of ethnic Albanians waved flags
and applauded to honor former U.S. President Bill Clinton (news - web
sites) on Friday, lining the roads near Kosovo's airport to greet him
after he arrived for a one-day visit.
Guarded by an armored personnel carrier and NATO (news - web sites)
peacekeepers, Clinton's motorcade streamed past cheering crowds through
this ethnically divided province to the capital, Pristina, where
thousands more had gathered. He then strode into the city's university
to receive an honorary degree.
After donning a blue gown for the ceremony, he urged university students
and other dignitaries to create a positive model in Kosovo that would
encourage people in the Middle East and the rest of the world struggling
with ethnic and religious problems. He appealed to them to speak out
against the ethnic killings.
"You cannot build a new Kosovo on retributive violence," he said. "No
one ever gets even in this life."
The former U.S. president is adored by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian
majority, who credit the United States with leading the coalition that
halted the brutal crackdown of Serb forces on ethnic Albanians seeking
independence four years ago.
A 78-day NATO air war pushed out Serb forces under the command of the
former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites) in June
1999. Milosevic is now on trial for war crimes at the U.N. war crimes
tribunal in Netherlands for atrocities committed in Kosovo and other
Balkan wars.
An estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians were killed during the crackdown
and some 800,000 were forced out of their homes. They returned home
after NATO-led peacekeepers moved in.
Friday's visit marked Clinton's second trip to Kosovo. He first visited
the province in November 1999.
Clinton to Get Honorary Degree in Kosovo
Fri Sep 19,2003
By GARENTINA KRAJA, Associated Press Writer
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - Thousands of ethnic Albanians waved flags
and applauded to honor former U.S. President Bill Clinton (news - web
sites) on Friday, lining the roads near Kosovo's airport to greet him
after he arrived for a one-day visit.
Guarded by an armored personnel carrier and NATO (news - web sites)
peacekeepers, Clinton's motorcade streamed past cheering crowds through
this ethnically divided province to the capital, Pristina, where
thousands more had gathered. He then strode into the city's university
to receive an honorary degree.
After donning a blue gown for the ceremony, he urged university students
and other dignitaries to create a positive model in Kosovo that would
encourage people in the Middle East and the rest of the world struggling
with ethnic and religious problems. He appealed to them to speak out
against the ethnic killings.
"You cannot build a new Kosovo on retributive violence," he said. "No
one ever gets even in this life."
The former U.S. president is adored by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian
majority, who credit the United States with leading the coalition that
halted the brutal crackdown of Serb forces on ethnic Albanians seeking
independence four years ago.
A 78-day NATO air war pushed out Serb forces under the command of the
former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites) in June
1999. Milosevic is now on trial for war crimes at the U.N. war crimes
tribunal in Netherlands for atrocities committed in Kosovo and other
Balkan wars.
An estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians were killed during the crackdown
and some 800,000 were forced out of their homes. They returned home
after NATO-led peacekeepers moved in.
Friday's visit marked Clinton's second trip to Kosovo. He first visited
the province in November 1999.
