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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mrknowitall who wrote (50983)	6/1/1999 4:08:00 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

Yugoslavia May Accept Peace Plan By CANDICE HUGHES Associated Press Writer BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) — Yugoslavia today signaled acceptance of Kosovo peace principles set down by the G-7 and Russia, while NATO pounded military sites for a 70th day. Fighting spilled into northern Albania when the allies mistakenly bombed government bunkers. Also today, the Yugoslav military reported the death of Gen. Ljubisa Velickovic, the air force deputy chief of staff. It said he died while inspecting units in ''the first line of defense'' against a NATO air attack, but did not give the date or exact location. Military officials from more than 30 nations were in Belgium today, drafting plans for an international security force in Kosovo that would ensure ethnic Albanians return to their homes safely. The group meeting at NATO's military headquarters — 19 NATO nations and 12 partner countries — will help create a force of 50,000, nearly double the number originally envisioned more than two months ago. The details of a possible accord came as envoys from Russia, Finland and the United States met today at a German hotel overlooking the Rhine River to discuss several remaining obstacles — NATO demands for foreign troops on Yugoslav soil to police the peace deal among the most serious. The Kosovo conflict has forced more than 850,000 ethnic Albanians from their homes and homeland since March — 442,000 to tent camps in Albania and nearly as many to Macedonia. In a new twist, Serb authorities are allowing only ethnic Albanians with valid passports to cross into Macedonia, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said today. UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said only a trickle of people crossed into Macedonia on Monday because of the new controls. Some 286 people arrived in Albania amid shellfire and rockets. Historical Perspective ''We don't know what sort of game they're playing, whether it's some sort of trick or uniform policy,'' Janowski said in reference to the Serbs. On the diplomatic front, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari and former Russian Premier Viktor Chernomyrdin expressed optimism that the talks including U.S. Deputy of Secretary of State Strobe Talbott could lead soon to a political solution. But Britain's defense secretary said NATO is far from satisfied with President Slobodan Milosevic's latest stratagem. ''He has broken promise after promise,'' George Robertson said at the Defense Ministry. ''His track record leads to one conclusion: We must not and cannot trust his words.'' If the German talks are successful, Ahtisaari would travel with Chernomyrdin to the Yugoslav capital to meet with Milosevic on Wednesday. Ahtisaari then would report to the 15 EU leaders Thursday at their summit in Cologne, Germany. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said ''we are facing probably decisive days,'' on the verge between ''escalation'' and a breakthrough toward peace. Before leaving Moscow for Bonn, Chernomyrdin would not give details about what he called ''new proposals worked out by the Russian side'' but said he expected the talks would bring progress. While Milosevic said dozens of civilian deaths in recent days from NATO bombings endangered peace efforts, his foreign minister reiterated that Belgrade would accept the general principles set down several weeks ago by Russia and the seven top industrialized democracies for ending the Kosovo crisis. The private Beta news agency said Zivadin Jovanovic had sent a letter to Fischer accepting the principles, ''including the presence of United Nation troops'' in Kosovo. Robertson said the Yugoslav acceptance was not enough — that Milosevic also must sign on to NATO troops in any international Kosovo peace force. Alliance officials insisted there will be ''no negotiations'' with Belgrade until the Yugoslav government halts the violence in Kosovo, withdraws 40,000 troops from the province and allows 50,000 NATO-led troops in to secure the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees. NATO, meanwhile, pressed ahead with its escalated air campaign. In Kosovo, U.S. A-10 ''Warthog'' jets struck Serb forces clashing with ethnic Albanian rebels in the hills along Albania's border. Belgrade and large parts of northern Serbia suffered another blackout after two transformer stations were hit on the outskirts of Belgrade, Beta said. The state Tanjug news agency reported 20 people killed in a NATO attack Monday on a hospital and retirement complex in the southern Serb town of Surdulica. NATO also acknowledged it may have accidentally bombed a residential area in Novi Pazar where Yugoslav media claimed 10 civilians were killed. The alliance maintained that after 31,500 air sorties, mistakes happen but the campaign was remarkable in limiting collateral damage. NATO said its jets struck the presidential villa at Dobanovci just outside Belgrade, where Milosevic has a command bunker, and the military police headquarters in Pristina, Kosovo's capital. Army barracks were hit in Belgrade, Pec and five other sites. A highway bridge was hit at Raska. Fighting spilled across the Kosovo frontier into Albania early today as NATO warplanes struck government bunkers by mistake and villagers fled Serb shelling. Western journalists joined the exodus after jets attacked as they were filming bomb damage about 2 miles inside Albania. Kosovo is a southern province of Serbia; 90 percent of its prewar population of 2 million was ethnic Albanian. NATO began the bombing campaign on March 24, 13 months after Milosevic's forces cracked down on the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, killing at least 2,000 people.