NATO-led forces to hold month-long exercise in Kosovo

The NATO-led peacekeeping forces will hold month-long military exercises in Kosovo as the Serbian province has been gripped by uneasiness over its final status talks, reports from the provincial capital Pristina said Thursday.

The long-planned exercises will be held from Sept. 20 to Oct. 20, NATO spokesman Lt. Col Siegfried Jooss was quoted as saying.

Around 200 German mountain infantry members are expected to arrive in Kosovo on Thursday to participate in the war game along with the 18,000-strong NATO-led forces.

The NATO-led peacekeeping forces initially deployed some 50,000 troops in Kosovo, backing UN administrators who have been overseeing the Serbian province since the end of Kosovo war in June 1999. But the number of troops has been gradually reduced.

The United Nations is due to decide later this year whether the de facto protectorate can begin final status talks.

Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova appointed on Tuesday a delegation headed by himself for the future talks on the province's final status.

Source: Xinhua