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PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Sept. 21 (UPI) A newly created Kosovo Protection Corps, ostensibly to serve as a peacetime disaster relief agency, is allowed many more weapons than originally expected.
Under an agreement signed Monday after 26 hours of marathon negotiations led by NATO Commander Gen. Wesley Clark, 2,000 weapons will be held in storage sites to be accessed by authorized corps members.
Of the 2,000 weapons, only 200 will be available to the Kosovo Protection Force at any one time, according to Pentagon spokesman P.J. Crowley. The storage site will be jointly controlled and secured by the NATO-led Kosovo Implementation Force (KFOR) and the Kosovo Protection Force, Crowley said.
International agencies earlier this week announced a 5,000-member strong civilian corps 3,000 of those active and 2,000 reserve would be created to deal with things like fire fighting, search and rescue and rebuilding. Of the number, 200 were to be allowed to carry weapons.
A KFOR statement issued in Pristina on Monday night said members of the corps "responsible for guarding and protection duties" would be allowed to retain only 200 weapons.
Officers approved by KFOR leaders will be allowed to carry side arms, and bodyguards will be allowed to carry side arms or automatic rifles. Those weapons will be under KFOR's control, Lt. Gen. Mike Jackson, commander of the KFOR forces in Kosovo, emphasized this morning.
"It's an important point, we're not in a fully peacetime environment, so it's important for the corps to guard their own locations," Jackson said. "Also, there are individuals who feel themselves at risk."
Weapons will also be made available to the Kosovo Protection Corps for training, according to the agreement. KFOR will provide the new corps with equipment and training, including training programs abroad, Jackson said.
Over a 60-day period, Gen. Agim Ceku, military leader of the KLA, will govern the force. Soldiers must take off their uniforms by midnight tonight.
"It's a good day for us. This is not an end, but a beginning," said Bernard Kouchner, the United Nations' top administrator in the province. "Demilitarization is not necessarily accomplished by collections, demilitarization is accomplished through transformation," he said.