PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Seeking to revive the stalled Kosovo peace process, a French envoy on Saturday urged ethnic Albanians to use the coming weeks to lay the groundwork for possible talks with Serbia's government on the province's future.
Kosovo has been mostly quiet since four straight days of fighting erupted Dec. 24 near the northern town of Podujevo. The fighting left at least 15 people dead and dramatically increased tensions here.Despite the relative calm, Serb sources said the bodies of three men -- two Serbs and one ethnic Albanian -- were found Saturday.
Jacques Huntzinger, a representative of the six-nation Contact Group and France's ambassador to neighboring Macedonia, told reporters that what happens in the first weeks of January will be essential to preventing a new round of fighting between the Serb-led Yugoslav government and ethnic Albanian separatists.
He urged the ethnic Albanians, who form the majority of Kosovo's 2 million people, to set aside their internal squabbles, which have delayed progress on a peaceful solution to the crisis here.
"The Contact Group has decided to take a new initiative and make new steps in this process," Huntzinger said after meeting ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova and his aide, Fehmi Agani.
France has taken over the presidency of the Contact Group, which has been unsuccessful so far in trying to bring the two sides together for direct talks on the province's future. The group also includes the United States, Britain, Russia, Germany and Italy.
According to Agani, who heads the ethnic Albanian negotiating team, Huntzinger stressed the importance of unity among ethnic Albanians.
Both the Serbs and ethnic Albanians have rejected several U.S. proposals for the future of Kosovo, which is part of Yugoslavia's main republic, Serbia.