Hopes for peace on Kosovo border

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Hopes are rising for a sustained peace in the troubled border area between Kosovo and Serbia with NATO working to facilitate face-to-face meetings between ethnic-Albanian militia and Yugoslav officials.

NATO says both sides have now agreed to an indefinite ceasefire after recent attacks in the Presevo Valley by a militia group killed four Serb policeman and resulted in threats of a counter-attack by the Yugoslav military.

About 3,000 ethnic-Albanians have fled from nearby areas of southern Serbia in the past four days fearing a possible military offensive by the massing forces.

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday that most of the people had crossed the border into Kosovo before the ceasefire but they still fear more people could seek asylum.

On Monday, Yugoslavia extended a deadline it had set NATO to restore order before it planned to launch counter-attacks against the militia.

Major Mark Whitty, a spokesman for NATO's KFOR peacekeeping forces, told CNN that officials were now working hard to secure a permanent agreement between the Serb authorities and the ethnic-Albanian separatists.

"They are not talking directly yet but we are facilitating an information flow between the armed Albanians and Belgrade," he said.

KFOR is responsible for maintaining security in Kosovo following last year's NATO campaign against Yugoslavia but a five kilometre (three mile) wide buffer zone, including the Presevo Valley, was set up between Serbia and Kosovo.

Serbian police the only security allowed within the buffer zone and ethnic-Albanian militia have been attacking their posts as part of their campaign to have the valley declared part of Kosovo.

Late on Monday, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Vienna in which he appealed for NATO to seal off the boundary without entering the buffer zone itself.

"It is their obligation to protect it and to prevent anyone from entering it," Svilanovic said.

Whitty said that over the past week, KFOR had apprehended 12 people suspected of violence and seized "two significant weapons caches."

He added that one border checkpoint had been closed "except for humanitarian assistance" and security patrols had been increased.

"All responsible leaders are urged to denounce and deter violence by armed insurgents," he said.

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica visited troops in the border area on Monday night saying he wanted to find a non-violent solution to the dispute.

"I came here because of peace and not because of war," he said outside the building, where about 1,000 people had gathered to wait for him.

The Presevo Valley area has a substantial ethnic-Albanian population, but it was not considered part of Kosovo and therefore not included in the June 1999 agreement that mandated NATO peacekeepers in the region.

Kosovo is a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia's main republic, but has been under international control since last year and many residents want full independence.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
NATO
OSCE - Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
KFOR
Kosovo Information Page

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