Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic said today that the aim of the March 2004 pogrom in Kosovo-Metohija was further persecution of the Serb population in the southern province, which is confirmed by the ethnic cleansing of the towns and nine villages in Kosovo-Metohija to which the Serbs have not returned.

Bogdanovic told the Tanjug news agency said that the main instigators and organisers of the pogrom have not been discovered, which is appalling and worrying.

Some of the individuals who participated in this action were punished, but not the organisers who had been preparing it for several months, he said.

We are being assured that the international forces in Kosovo-Metohija are now better trained and have better intelligence, and that they will not allow a repetition of 17 March 2004, said Bogdanovic.

The Minister, however, expressed concern, especially after a cutting in the number of KFOR forces, that something similar might happen again because it is obvious that there are social tensions in Kosovo-Metohija.

He stressed that the Serbian government wants to deal with all problems in the province peacefully, in a constructive, pragmatic manner, because only through dialogue and compromise can peace, stability and reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians be achieved.

Serbia wants Kosovo-Metohija to be a prosperous multi-ethnic society, but one of the preconditions is the return of nearly 220,000 refugees and internally displaced persons.

Bogdanovic reiterated that the Kosovo government, under pressure from the international community, began the reconstruction of destroyed houses, but has not created conditions for the return of the Serb population in those areas.

You cannot just declare that you advocate the return of Serbs, multi-ethnicity and legal protection, and do nothing about it, stressed the Minister.

An additional source of tension is the plan of the International Civilian Office Head Peter Feith and provisional authorities of Pristina, which includes an attempt to establish the so-called Kosovo's institutions in the north of the province, which Serbs oppose.

I believe that no one will dare to carry out the plan with Serbs opposing it. But at least this plan does not embody a threat of violence. That would be disastrous and would destabilise not only Kosovo-Metohija, but the entire Western Balkans as it is impermissible to face problems with force and conflicts, said Bogdanovic.