Former Yugoslavia.

• Author: Grabish, Beatrice
• Position: Peacewatch - Declaration of arms embargo by UN Security Council

The Security Council on 31 March, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, decided that "all States shall, for the purposes of fostering peace and stability in Kosovo, prevent the sale or supply to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including Kosovo, by their nationals or from their territories or using their flag vessels and aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types, such as weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment and spare parts for the aforementioned, and shall prevent arming and training for terrorist activities there".

In adopting resolution 1160 (1998) by 14 votes to none, with 1 abstention (China), the Council also called upon the authorities in Belgrade and the leaders of the Kosovar Albanian community urgently to enter without preconditions into a meaningful dialogue on political status issues. It urged the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to begin gathering information relating to the violence in Kosovo that might fall within its jurisdiction.

The Council established a committee, consisting of all Council members, to carry out various functions relating to the arms embargo, namely: seek information from all States regarding their actions to implement the ban and to examine those reports; consider information brought to it by any State concerning violations of the ban and recommend appropriate measures in response; report periodically to the Council on such alleged violations; and promulgate guidelines as may be necessary to facilitate the implementation of the ban.

In calling upon the Kosovar Albanian leadership...