Kosovo - ICRC: 14-Oct-98

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Communication No. 98/35
14 October 1998


KOSOVO CRISIS: ICRC STEPPING UP ACTIVITIES

Geneva (ICRC) - After a ten-day suspension of its field activities
following a landmine incident in which a doctor was killed and three
other medical staff injured, the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) is resuming its activities throughout Kosovo and seeking to
restore the high degree of access to persons in need that it had in
recent months. Field trips will be subject to enhanced security
assessments, particularly regarding the threat of landmines. A first
relief convoy left Pristina this morning with 30 tonnes of food and
other supplies to be distributed to displaced people in Mitrovica, north
of Pristina. Further convoys are planned for the coming days.

On Monday 12 October, ICRC delegates distributed food and other basic
necessities to 200 wounded and sick people at Pristina hospital.
Beneficiaries included patients coming from areas affected by the recent
violence, refugees from Krajina, and vulnerable individuals treated at
the hospital. 

The ICRC team in Pristina comprises five delegates working with the
support of senior national staff. Last week the organization decided to
stay on in Yugoslavia even in the event of airstrikes.



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