-Caveat Lector- From: http://www.foxnews.com/national/ FOX Hotsheet: Washington Bureau HERE ARE THE NEWS DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE FOX NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU FROM MONDAY, 6-14-99, COMPILED BY PRODUCER MIKE HAGERTY KOSOVO/MILITARY: (reported by correspondent Brian Wilson and Pentagon producer Chris Wright) * SERB PULLOUT (wilson): The Pentagon released pictures taken from unmanned military drones showing long convoys of Serbian soldiers in military and civilian vehicles pulling out of Kosovo---up to 15,000 so far. So many Serbs are leaving that there are massive traffic jams at key choke points. The Yugoslav forces are supposed to be out the Southern most zone by Tuesday--day six of Operation Joint Guardian--out of zone two by day nine, and completely out of Kosovo by day eleven. But the Pentagon concedes the gridlock on Kosovo's badly battered system of highways may make that impossible. More than 14,000 NATO soldiers have entered Kosovo, setting up shop for what may be a long stay. Perhaps their greatest concern is removing mines left behind by the Serbs. The U.S. military has extensive experience removing mines in Kuwait and Bosnia using special remote-controlled vehicles and hand-held mine detectors operated by Army personnel in recently developed body armor. * RUSSIAN TROOPS (wright/1615): Pentagon sources say they expect a small convoy of about 30 Russian peacekeepers from Bosnia to deliver supplies to the 200 Russian troops at Pristina airport. They characterize this operation as "resupply," not "reinforcement." Pentagon sources now add these details of what happened on Friday: with almost no notice, 200 Russian troops left northern Bosnia for Belgrade on Friday morning. The Russians informed the U.S. several times during the day that the Russian troops would not enter Kosovo until NATO and Russia had reached an agreement on arrangements. Several hours later, the 200 Russians showed up in Kosovo. On Friday evening the Russian foreign minister claimed the deployment was a "mistake" and that they would be withdrawn. That has not happened yet, and probably won't. Pentagon officials say ultimately, it is likely that the Russians will be given a "zone of responsibility" within one of the NATO sectors. There is some consternation among senior military officers that this matter is being kicked back to the Pentagon from the State Department. They this is clearly a matter that needs to be worked out between NATO and Moscow, with the State Department as a representative of NATO. ---------- KOSOVO/WHITE HOUSE: (reported by White House correspondent Jim Angle and White House producer Ellen Uchimiya) * WHITE HOUSE/RUSSIANS (angle): The U.S. is trying to play down the continuing standoff between NATO peacekeepers and the Russian troops who dashedinto Kosovo ahead of them on Friday. Even though officials insist it is not a crisis, the administration has been burning up the phone lines trying to solve it. In the meantime, officials say they're making real progress toward defining Russia's role in Kosovo. Russia appears determined not to take orders directly from NATO, but NATO is determined to call the shots. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Monday that the Russians seem to understand that, but one official said the Russians are still chafing about that. White House officials seem more amused than distressed that Russian leaders promised their troops wouldn't go into Kosovo just hours before they crossed the border. * LOCKHART/RUSSIANS (uchimiya/1010): In an off-camera gaggle with reporters, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart refused to answer repeated questions about whether or not the Russians could still be trusted in the wake of their entry into Kosovo on Friday. Lockhart repeated several times that the administration would continue to work with them to work out the most effective way to deploy. He said the 200 Russian troops had just deployed earlier than expected, and does not see the events of this weekend as any indication that constitutional control has broken down. ---------- KOSOVO/DIPLOMACY: (reported by State Department producer Kelly Wallace) * ALBRIGHT/COHEN (wallace/1432): Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced at a White House news conference on Monday that she and Secretary of Defense William Cohen will meet with their Russian counterparts in Helsinki, Finland in "the next few days." These meetings would be the next step in the U.S. effort to work out a role for the Russians in the Kosovo peacekeeping force, according to State Dept. Spokesman James Rubin. Rubin said Deputy Secretary of State Talbott--who is back in Washington and who has been talking with the Russians about this matter--is not expected to travel back to Moscow before the Helsinki meetings. The exact details of Albright's trip are being worked out, but it's expected she'll travel with the President to Paris Tuesday night and then at some point--possibly Thursday--travel to Helsinki to meet with the Russians. * LANDMINE REMOVAL (wallace/1415): The State Department announced it will spend $1.6 million on an "emergency" operation to clear landmines throughout Kosovo to accelerate the return of the refugees and the delivery of food and other relief supplies. In a statement, State Department Spokesman James Rubin said the U.S. has "strong indications" that during the Kosovo crisis, the Serb forces placed landmines "extensively" throughout the province, hindering the return of the refugees and the delivery of humanitarian aid. In response to the security threats posed by landmines, Rubins said the Department modified a contract with a firm to carry out emergency demining assistance for four months. The $1.6 million price tag for the operation will be paid using funds from the supplemental appropriation to the Department's Support for Eastern European Democracy (SEED) account. Rubin aid the demining force -- which will consist of six teams -- will be ready to begin its operations as soon as KFOR completes its assessment of the landmine threats in Kosovo. ---------- OTHER NEWS: (reported by State Department producer Kelly Wallace, White House producer Ellen Uchimiya, Justice Department producer Bryan Sierra, producer Mike Hagerty and desk assistant Sarah Santer) * WHITE HOUSE/KOREA (santer/2317): Reacting to an incident in which South Korean warships sank a North Korean torpedo boat, National Security Council spokesman P.J. Crowley said "we've seen reports of exchange of gunfire; we're checking into the facts." Crowley said NSC members are "watching it closely and are still checking into specifics of this instance to see what transpired." Currently there are General Officer Talks going on (the U.N. Command recommends to North and South Koreas to come to the DMZ to exchange information). The talks can contribute to the lessening of tensions. There had been another incident, a collision of two boats in recent days, as Crowley said as far as he knows, the talks were scheduled in advance of the most recent incident. * CHINA REPORT (sierra/2200): A White House advisory panel is offering a scathing assessment of the Energy Department's handling of security at the nation's nuclear labs and counterintelligence issues in the wake of the Chinese espionage scandal. The report by a special panel headed by former Sen. Warren Rudman (R-NH) says a "dysfunctional structure" at the heart of the Energy Department has led to mismanaged and lax security at weapons labs, creating conditions ideal for espionage by foreign agents. The panel, asked by President Clinton in March to investigate allegations of Chinese espionage, cites in the 57-page report released Monday night various examples of Energy Department blunders, including classified documents about advanced nuclear weapons being left on library shelves accessible to the public at the Los Alamos laboratory. The panel also found an "arrogant disregard for authority" at the Department of Energy, particularly for ignoring a presidential directive requiring changes in security procedures at nuclear labs. A senior White House official says that security and intelligence problems have existed for the past 20 years at the Energy Department, and continue to this day. * DOLE BREAK-IN (hagerty/1832): Police in Arlington, Viriginia say the office of Elizabeth Dole's presidential exploratory committee was burglarized over the weekend. Corporal Justin McNaull, an Arlington County Police spokesman, said the burglarly occured between 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday. McNaull said someone entered the office suite by unknown means and pried open several doors before stealing a laptop computer. McNaull says police are treating this as a regular commercial burglarly and that investigators have no reason to suspect political espionage. McNaull said an investigation is ongoing. * U.S. ENVOY TO CHINA (wallace/1152): Under Secretary Thomas Pickering-- along with a handful of Defense Department and intelligence officials--took off for China Monday morning for the first face-to-face meeting between the U.S. and China following the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. A State Department official tells Fox News that Pickering will have "access to senior level" Chinese officials during his talks in Beijing on June 16th, and will at least meet with the Vice Foreign Minister and the Foreign Minister. The official would not comment on whether the U.S. is requesting Pickering meet with higher level officials such as the Chinese President. The goal of the meeting, according to the official, is to "present the Chinese with information we found related to the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy." However, the official would not rule out discussions on other topics concerning U.S.-China relations. * NAZI TRIAL AVOIDED (sierra/1105): A Chicago-area man has permanently left the country to avoid trial on charges that he was a guard for the Nazi-controlled Lithuanian Auxiliary Police during World War II. The Justice Department says the retired factory worker, 78-year-old Vincas Valkavickas, left the United States for Lithuania on Sunday. Valkavickas agreed to the move after admitting to the department's Office of Special Investigations in March that he misrepresented his service with the Lithuanian Auxiliary Police when he applied for a visa to enter the United States in 1950. Valkavickas had faced charges of guarding a facility in Nazi-occupied Lithuania during a two-day operation in 1941 in which more than 3,700 Jewish men, women and children were executed. * ON WOODWARD SERIES (uchimiya/1010): Asked in an off-camera gaggle with reporters whether the President and First Lady were in couples counselling, White House Press Secretary Lockhart said that there is no couples counselling, but that the President continues to talk in a limited fashion with a group of ministers. In response to a question about whether or not Tipper Gore was shocked by the president's behavior, exposed last year, Lockhart said the president has addressed his actions and that he wouldn't be surprised if some people were shocked. © 1999, News America Digital Publishing, Inc. d/b/a Fox News Online. 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