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Part 2
         News of the day - October 3, 1998

         Die Bibel sagt  -  The Bible says
 
additional press news 
Betreff:         [ALBANEWS] News:Clinton: Milosevic has 2 weeks to stop assaults or NATO will strike
Datum:         Fri, 2 Oct 1998 21:02:02 -0400
    Von:         Nick <albania@erols.com>

Clinton: Milosevic has 2 weeks to stop assaults or NATO will strike
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (October 2, 1998 7:32 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) --
President Clinton warned Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Friday that NATO will strike Serb forces in Kosovo within two weeks unless he meets all U.N. demands in halting his assault on ethnic Albanians.
     "I believe that our allies in Europe are with us and I think that we all understand and we hope he got the message," President Clinton said as the alliance moved closer to intervention. "I think it is very important. We have to be very, very strong here. We need to stop the violence, get a negotiated settlement and work our way through this."
     Defense Secretary William Cohen, who briefed lawmakers on Capitol Hill for a second day to prepare the political ground for possible NATO air raids, said Milosevic should not be given any maneuvering room.
     "Most of the NATO allies have been dealing with Milosevic for some time now and recognize that he always tries to simply pull back at the last moment only to have the capacity to engage in ... atrocious behavior" again, Cohen said. "I don't think any of the NATO allies are going to be satisfied if he simply stops the killing momentarily." Instead, Cohen said Milosevic must call a cease-fire, pull Serb Army and special police forces out of areas of fighting against the Kosovo Liberation Army and other guerilla groups seeking independence for the Serbian province and sit down to negotiate with ethnic Albanians, perhaps returning the autonomy they lost in 1989.
     Those conditions were approved in a U.N. resolution last week, which also called on Milosevic to allow humanitarian groups into Kosovo to provide immediate relief to some 275,000 refugees, who also must be allowed to return to their home villages.
     U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is scheduled to deliver a report Monday to the Security Council on whether Milosevic has complied. If the conclusion is no, that would give further impetus for NATO to approve an airstrike -- whether or not the United Nations authorizes force in another resolution, U.S. officials said.
     "This is not an ad hoc approach he can take and pick and choose a la carte," Cohen said after a closed meeting with more than 70 members of the House. "He must accept the entire set of demands. Otherwise, he will face the use of force."
     Cohen said he is tentatively planning to attend a NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday when a decision is expected on whether to approve force. If he attends, it could turn into a full ministerial meeting instead of permanent representatives.
     Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, meanwhile, told a conference of U.S. and Russian business people in Chicago on Friday that she had been in touch with her Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, on the possible use of force in Yugoslavia.
     But she said Russia's support is not necessary. "If at the end of the day, we disagree about whether force should be used, the United States and its allies must be prepared to act alone," Albright said.
     Cohen dismissed a report that NATO would wait at least two weeks to take any action against Milosevic, which would give him time to make more military gains even as refugees hiding in the hills suffer from hunger and cold nights with winter coming.
     "I believe action, if it's required, will take place before that time -- that there will not be a two-week hiatus between now and the time that would be necessary to provide relief for the people who are currently suffering," Cohen said.
     U.S. cruise missiles are expected to be the opening salvo in any airstrike, according to NATO sources, although plans are still being developed. Cohen said several hundred NATO warplanes probably would be involved, delivering punishing hits on the heavy Serb air defense batteries and on centers of command and control.
     "I think we're in a position as a NATO organization to inflict significant damage on his capacity to harm" the Kosovar guerillas and fleeing civilians, including women and children who have been massacred, Cohen said. "Whether or not it will lead to the peaceful solution that we hope to achieve is still a question."
     If there is a cease-fire, NATO is expected to put together a peacekeeping force that could be as large as 47,000 troops, according to early planning. But Cohen said the United States has not committed to provide any ground troops at this stage.
     Sen. John Warner, R-Va., an influential voice on military affairs, said he would not support a NATO airstrike unless a ground force also is sent in to maintain peace. In a Senate floor speech, he called it "an essential part of the operation."
     Still, there appeared to be wide congressional support for NATO action.
     "None of us will stand for particularized murder of the people of Kosovo," said Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y.

By LAURA MYERS, Associated Press Writer

_______________________________________________________________________
Betreff:         [ALBANEWS] PRESS RELEASE:
                      House Members Call for Force to Halt Milosevic's War Crimes in Kosova
Datum:         Fri, 2 Oct 1998 12:35:34 -0400
    Von:         "Steinbaum, Jason" <Jason.Steinbaum@MAIL.HOUSE.GOV>

>News from:
>
>CONGRESSMAN ELIOT L. ENGEL
>Seventeenth District, New York
>
> 2303 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC  20515 -- 202/225-2464
>3655 Johnson Avenue, Bronx, NY  10463 -- 718/796-9700
>**********************************************************************
>  For immediate release:       October 2, 1998
>  Contact:     Jason Steinbaum at 202-225-2464
>               Joseph O'Brien at 718-796-9700
>
>ENGEL LEADS MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGING USE OF FORCE
>TO STOP MILOSEVIC'S WAR CRIMES IN KOSOVA
>
>Letter to President Begins Circulating in House of Representatives
>
>Washington, DC -- Rep. Eliot Engel today announced a letter to President
>Clinton calling for NATO air strikes to halt Serbia's brutal campaign of
>ethnic cleansing against the 92% majority Albanian population of Kosova.
>
>"In Bosnia, you [President Clinton] drew the line for [Yugoslav President
>Slobodan] Milosevic with air strikes and ended the horror.  That is what is
>needed in Kosova -- the same forceful resolve, not just empty rhetoric.
>Specifically, our diplomats should tell Milosevic that unless his troops
>immediately end attacks against civilians and withdraw, NATO will employ its
>airpower to halt the crisis," the letter says.
>
>"I am outraged that Milosevic has continued to defy the international
>community," Engel said, "and demand that he end the pillaging of Kosova."
>
>The letter also calls for the indictment of Milosevic for war crimes and
>crimes against humanity.  In recent weeks, the House and Senate passed
>resolutions calling for Milosevic's indictment by the International Criminal
>Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
>
>Finally, the letter states that the legitimate political claims of the people
>of Kosova must ultimately be addressed.  "That means that the Kosovars cannot
>simply be expected to return to the status quo ante of limited autonomy, but
>must know that their rightful aspiration to control their own destiny will be
>incorporated into any agreement," the letter says.
>
>The bipartisan letter is now being circulated in the House by Reps. Engel
>(D-NY), Peter King (R-NY), Jim Moran (D-VA), Sue Kelly (R-NY), John Olver
>(D-MA), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).  A total of 20 members of Congress have
>agreed to cosign the letter to date.
>
>Rep. Engel is Co-Chair of the Congressional Albanian Issues Caucus and Chairs
>the House Democratic Foreign Policy Task Force.  He represents areas of the
>Bronx and Westchester.
>
>-30-

_______________________________________________________________________
Betreff:         [ALBANEWS] News-03.
Datum:         Sat, 3 Oct 1998 01:12:01 -0400
    Von:         Sokol Rama <sokolrama@sprynet.com>

Taken without permission, for fair use only.

  • Serbs Show Evidence of Withdrawal, Ethnic Albanians Say all Is
  • Albania Calls for NATO Intervention
  • Macedonia, Turkey Say Kosovo Menaces Balkan Peace
  • Kosovo Guerrillas Pin Hopes on NATO
  • Analysis-Allies Brace for Rough Ride on Kosovo
  • UK Defense Chief Threatens Yugoslavia with Air Strikes
  • Albright, Cohen Say NATO Ready to Act Against Serbs if Diplomacy
  • Yugoslavia Protests Against Albania on Border Incident
  • Focus-Albanian PM Plans "New Step" on Kosovo
  • Demirel: Turkey Will Join NATO Action in Kosovo
  • Albanian Minister Urges NATO Intervention in Kosovo
  • Russia Urged to Press Belgrade to Withdraw Troops from
  • Clinton Says Allies with US on Kosovo
  • Council Keeps up Pressure on Milosevic, Now Going after War
  • US Says NATO Strike on Milosevic May Be Imminent
  • Ireland Urges Irish Nationals to Leave Yugoslavia
  • Montenegro Distances itself from Federation Partner, Serbia
  • Contact Group Urges Belgrade to Obey UN Resolution.
  • Britain Sends More Warplanes to Italy Ahead of Threatened NATO

  • __________________________________________________

    Albanian Minister Urges NATO Intervention in Kosovo
    Reuters  03-OCT-98

    UNITED NATIONS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Albania's foreign minister told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday that NATO should intervene in Kosovo immediately, after which Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic should be indicted as a war criminal for actions against civilians in the province.
         But Paskal Milo said a political settlement of the crisis should respect the will of Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanian population to self-determination but not change the frontiers of Yugoslavia by force.
         "The Albanian government urges an immediate NATO military intervention for peace enforcement in Kosovo because of the failure of peaceful means applied by the international community so far," he said.
         He said the Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia should begin an investigation of Milosevic for the purpose of indicting him as a war criminal "responsible for genocide in killing civilians in Kosovo."
         "Newly-born children, pregnant women, elders, have been massacred in a bestial way," he said.
         More than 20,000 refugees from Kosovo have fled to Albania to escape fighting between Serbian security forces and separatist guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
         Milo also called for a "strong and extensive international monitoring" presence in Kosovo and international mediation to negotiate a political solution.
         But the minister told reporters later, his country did not advocate "greater Albania."
         "The Albanian government is of the opinion that every solution of the Kosovo crisis should take into consideration the respect of the will of the Albanians to self-determination and the respect for international conventions that reject the violent changing of borders," he told the assembly.
         Albania has in the past said that Kosovo should not become independent but have the status of a third republic in the Yugoslav federation, alongside Serbia and Montenegro. The region now is a province of Serbia.
         Turning to Albania's internal strife, Milo said the government, sworn in only hours before he spoke, was trying to establish a rule of law after and repair the country's crumbling economy, the weakest in Europe.
         Last year's some 2,000 people were killed as anarchy broke out following the failure of several get-rich-quick "pyramid" schemes in which many lost their savings.
         "I can declare with conviction that pyramid-scheme based businesses do not exist any more in our country," he said.

    Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved.
    __________________________________________________

    Serbs Show Evidence of Withdrawal, Ethnic Albanians Say all Is
    AP  02-OCT-98

    PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- With the clock ticking down to possible NATO airstrikes, Serb authorities scrambled Friday to show they are complying with U.N. demands to pull back their forces and bring peace to Kosovo.
         The ethnic Albanians' political leader called it a false show, and said NATO strikes on Serbia would be welcome.
         "The most critical issue is to stop the war machine of Belgrade and to protect the people of Kosovo," said Ibrahim Rugova, who long has advocated pacifism to settle the Serb-Albanian standoff in Kosovo. "That's an issue of humanity."
         In a flurry of moves, the Serbs invited U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to visit the southern Serbian province, issued a new appeal for talks with ethnic Albanian negotiators, removed a key police roadblock and showed reporters heavy equipment they said has been withdrawn.
         But Annan turned down the offer and the ethnic Albanians indicated they aren't willing to talk with fighting still continuing.
         Britain and the United States, keeping up the pressure on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, warned strongly that the time to prevent intervention is running out.
         In Washington, Secretary of Defense William Cohen said Friday that strikes would come within two weeks unless Milosevic meets all U.N. demands in halting his assault on ethnic Albanians.
         "I believe action, if it's required, will take place before that time -- that there will not be a two-week hiatus between now and the time that would be necessary to provide relief for the people who are currently suffering," Cohen said.
         Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, however, argued the problems in Kosovo cannot be solved by the use of outside force. And Russia's parliament declared that any action taken without U.N. approval would be considered an "illegal act of aggression."
         The international furor over the Serbs' eight-month crackdown in separatist Kosovo has intensified this week, pushing the United States and other countries to the verge of long-threatened airstrikes.
         The Serbs' efforts to crush separatist resistance in the province, which is populated largely by ethnic Albanians, has killed hundreds of people and driven an estimated 275,000 from their homes.
         Even as the Serbs said this week that they were halting their action against Kosovo "terrorists," evidence surfaced of at least two massacres of civilians in the Drenica region within recent days.
         Claiming that media reports wrongly portray the situation in Kosovo, Serb authorities said Annan should come himself to see the "real situation." But Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said the secretary-general was already receiving reports from U.N. officials in the area.
         Late Friday, the independent Beta news agency said Serbian Deputy Premier Ratko Markovic had invited an ethnic Albanian negotiating team to meet as soon as possible to resume the political dialogue that broke down last May.
         But Fehmi Agani, chief ethnic Albanian negotiator, said the letter seemed to be intended to ease some of the increasing international pressure on Serbia rather than a sincere move.
         "I don't see how negotiations can possibly continue at this point when the fighting in Kosovo has not ceased to this date," Agani said.
         Things were moving on the ground in Kosovo. Serb police removed a roadblock on the road from Pristina to Pec, a highly visible symbol of the heavy police presence in Kosovo.
         At the same time, Serb officials hastened to show reporters heavy police equipment and weapons they say have been withdrawn from the Kosovo conflict. Many of the men, they say, have been sent on leave.
         A makeshift bunker of truck tires and sandbags located at Komorane, 12 miles west of Pristina, since the start of the conflict in February was pulled down with a backhoe.
         At a special police forces base at Ajvalija, the largest police base in Kosovo located about three miles east of Pristina, Col. Bozidar Filic showed reporters seven armored personnel carriers, armored jeeps and other vehicles, plus a Bell helicopter, saying all had been withdrawn from the conflict with the ethnic Albanians.
         But Rugova and the ethnic Albanians weren't buying the Serbs' statements.
         "The Serb military forces have not withdrawn from Kosovo, they have only changed their tactical position," Rugova said. "The situation continues to be grave and dangerous."
         The Kosovo Information Center, close to the province's ethnic Albanian leadership, reported Serb forces attacked two villages Friday near Malisevo in southwestern Kosovo, then sent in reinforcements when Kosovo Liberation Army rebels showed heavy resistance.
         For its part, the pro-Serb Media Center said Yugoslav army border guards came under grenade-launcher fire from inside Albania's territory near the Pogaj border outpost opposite Prizren, Kosovo.
         The top Serbian official in Kosovo lashed out at what he said were "daily fabrications of new massacres by the ethnic Albanian propaganda machine."
         Veljko Odalovic, head of the provincial government, accused world powers of helping terrorists in Kosovo by threatening Serbia and the Yugoslav Federation.

    Copyright 1998& The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
    __________________________________________________

    Albania Calls for NATO Intervention
    Xinhua  02-OCT-98

    UNITED NATIONS (Oct. 2) XINHUA - Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo Friday called for NATO intervention in Kosovo and said Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic should be held responsible for genocide and investigating for war crimes.
         Addressing the 53rd General Assembly session, Milo said that immediate NATO action is necessary "because of the failure of the peaceful means applied by the international community so far."
         "It is high time for the U.N. and other international organizations to urgently intervene for the restoration of peace, otherwise we risk to have another wider conflict," he said.
         Meanwhile, the Albanian foreign minister accused Milosevic of ordering "the implementation of his ethnic cleansing policy against Albanians under the pretext of combating the so-called Albanian terrorism."
         Thousands of Kosovo Albanians have fled to Albania and thousands more were wandering Kosovo's forests and mountains, creating an acute humanitarian crisis, he said.
         Last week, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic told a press conference here that Albania has provided arms, finance and training for the terrorists in Kosovo.
         The United Nations Security Council Thursday condemned recent massacres of civilians in Kosovo, Serbian's province of mainly ethnic Albanians, but the council did not assign blame and added no new legal backing for any NATO action.
         In his speech, Milo accused Serbian propaganda of trying to justify indiscriminate attacks and the massacre of ethnic Albanians -- just as it did in Bosnia -- by making false accusations of terrorist activity.
         The foreign minister told a press conference that he is "not satisfied with" the latest U.N. resolution. "I want it to be much stronger," he added.
         "It is just the right time for the international community to send a stronger message to President Milosevic" that the world will no longer tolerate his mass shooting of civilians, he said. However, Belgrade has said that it has nothing to do with the alleged massacre.
         Milo insists that his government wants a peaceful end to the Kosovo conflict.
         "We are in favor of an immediate end of the conflict and the initiation of the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, with an international involvement as a third party," he said. "This would guarantee their success. The negotiations should define the future status of Kosovo."
         The Albanian government believes a solution "should take into consideration the request of the will of the Albanians to self-determination and respect for the international conventions which reject the violent changing of borders," he added.
         Ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population of 2 million, and they have been seeking independence by fighting Serbs in the southernmost province of Serbia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
    __________________________________________________

    Macedonia, Turkey Say Kosovo Menaces Balkan Peace
    Reuters  02-OCT-98

    SKOPJE, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Macedonia and Turkey expressed grave concern over Kosovo on Friday and said that regional peace was threatened by the conflict.
         "The (Kosovo) crisis has assumed dimensions that seriously jeopardise peace and stability in the region and the whole of Europe," Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov and visiting Turkish President Suleiman Demirel said in a joint statement.
         Demirel is on a two-day trip to Skopje.
         Worried about the large number of refugees produced by the Kosovo crisis, the two countries said they would need aid to cope with them and they called for the conflict to be resolved by peaceful means within Yugoslavia.
         Kosovo, populated mostly by ethnic Albanians, is a province of Serbia within federal Yugoslavia.
         Kosovo Albanian guerrillas fighting for independence have been largely crushed by Serbian security forces over the past two months but recent alleged massacres of Albanian civilians have revived calls for NATO intervention to stop the conflict.
         Macedonia, to Kosovo's south, has a large and restive Albanian minority, while Turkey is linked by history and geography to the Balkan region. Most Kosovo Albanians are Moslems, like the Turks.
         Demirel said in response to a question that his country as a member of NATO and the United Nations would support possible NATO military intervention in Kosovo but that it was up to Yugoslavia to see it did not happen.
         "Yugoslavia should comply with the demand of the Security Council and then there will be no intervention," he said and added: "Turkey has no problems with Yugoslavia, but Yugoslavia has a problem with the United Nations. I hope that such an intervention will not take place."
         Gligorov avoided a direct answer when asked if Macedonia, a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace Programme, would support an alliance strike against Serbian-led Yugoslavia over Kosovo.
         "If we receive an official request of such a nature, our government will hold a session and decide," he said.

    Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved.
    __________________________________________________

    Kosovo Guerrillas Pin Hopes on NATO
    Reuters  02-OCT-98

    CICAVICA MOUNTAINS, Serbia, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Ragged guerrillas who have survived Serbia's ferocious military offensive in Kosovo said on Friday they were pinning their last hopes on NATO bombs.
         In the northern mountains of the Serbian province, a few nervous ethnic Albanians wielding a motley arsenal of shotguns, battered Chinese-made rifles and the odd Kalashnikov still control some remote hamlets and dirt roads after a Serb onslaught which all but annihilated them.
         The Cicavica mountains saw intense fighting in the last days of September in which Serbian forces reported they had killed more than 100 fighters of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and suffered heavy casualties themselves.
         But there was no trace of military activity on Friday among Cicavica's shattered Albanian villages, save for reports by local people that Serb shells landed on one, Poljac, during the night.
         Yugoslav army units appeared to have quit the region completely, leaving behind villages roofless and gutted by shelling and burning and meadows gouged by tank tracks. Only small units of armed police guarded road checkpoints at the foot of the mountain range.
         The hills newly quiet, the remnants of one of the world's most ramshackle fighting forces emerged to call on the world's biggest military alliance for aid.
         Dressed in a grubby shell suit, a man who described himself as a village commander of the KLA told Reuters the force had "only a few" guns and men left. At his side stood a youth dressed in denims with a shotgun and a man in an anorak carrying a Kalashnikov.
         "The Serb offensive was very heavy. They are afraid of NATO air strikes so they have pulled back. But if they decide NATO is not going to do anything they will be back immediately," he said.
         "If NATO doesn't come we Albanians are finished. The KLA will never be totally beaten by the Serbs but if NATO doesn't come there will be no peace in Kosovo," he added.
         "It's the policy of the Serbs. After 10 days they could be back again."
         Asked about an amnesty offered by Serb authorities for those who hand in weapons, he replied: "We don't believe it."
         "Come NATO and bomb," yelled another ethnic Albanian man standing nearby.
         International anger at Belgrade has intensified this week with the discovery of bodies, including those of women and children, allegedly killed in cold blood and mutilated by Serb forces as their offensive drew to a close in many areas last weekend.
         People in the Cicavica village of Galica pointed to 14 fresh graves on Friday, saying they were those of Albanian men summarily executed by Serb forces a few days ago. Some bodies had been found mutilated, they said.
         The KLA "general headquarters"-- a shadowy body believed abroad, which regularly makes implausible claims of military success against Serb forces-- issued a statement published by Albanian-language media in Kosovo on Friday admitting it had suffered some losses but saying it was far from beaten.
         "The enemy has caused the Albanian people great spiritual pain...but has not succeeded in seriously damaging the fighting capability of the KLA," it claimed.
         Western diplomatic sources in Kosovo say they doubt whether the KLA has an effective central command at all. "KLA often just means the local village men with hunting rifles acting on their own," one with military expertise said.
         The sources said they believed this week's Serbian troop movements in Kosovo represented a genuine withdrawal of forces from the field. Reuters journalists saw many sandbagged checkpoints on roads in northern Kosovo had been abandoned on Friday, and filmed police dismantling fortifications at one.
         Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova on Friday challenged Serb assertions that security forces had returned to their barracks and said "they have only changed their tactical positions."

    Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved.
    __________________________________________________

    Analysis-Allies Brace for Rough Ride on Kosovo
    Reuters  02-OCT-98

    BRUSSELS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Whatever happens in the Kosovo crisis next week, another chunk of the old Yugoslavia has worked loose and no amount of diplomacy or high explosive looks remotely likely to put it back again.
         The ethnic Albanian majority of the Serbian province endured second-class status for 10 years, adhering with the help of Western blandishments to a policy of non-violence.
         They felt betrayed by a footnote mention in the November 1995 Dayton agreement which ended the war in Bosnia, and realised bitterly that meekness would never win independence.
         In January, guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began to strike at police who symbolised Belgrade's rule, eventually provoking the sledgehammer response for which Serbs in recent history have become notorious.
         The KLA's fortunes soared, then plummetted in the teeth of an offensive in summer that has winnowed their ranks but almost certainly forged a battle-hardened core.
         Now the ethnic Albanians have tasted blood, mostly their own, they are unlikely to be completely cowed again no matter how high a price Serbia extracts for the insurgency.
         Into this breach step the major western powers, seeking to force Yugoslavia, a sovereign state, to grant self-determination to Kosovo yet not the independence its majority craves.
         July and August demonstrated that quietly lifting the pressure on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic so he could blunt a galloping KLA advance was a mistake.
         With television pictures of massacres now piled upon the vista of burned out villages and camps of refugees, western opinion is inflamed to the point where, as U.S. Secretary of Defence William Cohen puts it, "NATO's credibility is on the line."
         It appears likely that the Western allies, by next Wednesday, will have sent an ultimatum to Milosevic, threatening to strike his security apparatus with cruise missiles unless he complies.
         "This is a unprecedented crisis, on a dubious legal basis if there is no U.N. mandate to use force. NATO's military commanders will want to have a very clear directive from the politicians on the mission's objectives, because without clear aims there is no clear exit," said a NATO observer.
         The ultimatum, said a NATO diplomat, "will have to be very clear and specific, much more precise than the U.N. demand to 'withdraw forces and stop repression'. It will have to name units.
         "It will have to set realistic demands that Milosevic can deliver. It takes two to negotiate but the military withdrawal he can do with a phonecall," he added. "It must be in line with U.N. demands but implementable and verifiable."
         If Milosevic complies, and the KLA is warned off any attempt to exploit the withdrawal, the West hopes ethnic Albanian leaders can be finally cajoled into sitting down with Yugoslav negotiators to attempt a settlement.
         But the ethnic Albanian leadership is less than united, it cannot "deliver" the KLA, and it is committed ultimately to seek independence that neither the West nor Milosevic wants.
         As for Kosovo's estimated 300,000 refugees and internally displaced, of whom upwards of 50,000 may be camping in the wild with winter approaching, there is no obvious relief flowing from a limited air strike.
         Terrorised by the Serbian security forces, it may well take the assurance of foreign ground forces to convince them it is safe to return to their villages. NATO is only willing to consider ground forces if there is a peace to keep.
         That could depend on the response to air strikes by the Yugoslav Army. Hardline nationalists have warned that Serbs will strike at NATO, maybe not able to knock down its aircraft but close enough to attack peacekeeping troops in Bosnia.
         "That's bragadoccio," said a NATO diplomat. "But the reaction of the Yugoslav Army could be critical. The generals may decide to go to Milosevic and say it's time to change policy..."
         The impact on Serbian opinion is another potentially explosive imponderable. NATO would have to try to ensure that it was not seen to be "attacking Serbdom," an official said.
         Playing the patriotic victim is a trump card of Milosevic, who is already preparing his worried people for "punitive" military action by the Western powers.
         "No one ever said it was going to be easy," a senior NATO diplomat commented drily. "It's going to be a rough ride once the balloon goes up."
         The hope clearly remains that sometime in the next several days NATO's threat will achieve its ends and the use of force, which no side apart from the ethnic Albanian hardliners look forward to, will be unnecessary.
         But if cruise missile strikes fail to force compliance with the NATO ultimatum, the allies have plans to move up to a sustained campaign of bombardment. Again the question of how to translate force into political settlement is unanswered.
         "There could be a protracted period of confrontation before getting back on track," the diplomat said.
         Asked if that were not tantamount to going to war, he replied: "Those are words we hear from the Russians, but we don't agree with that choice of words."
    __________________________________________________

    UK Defense Chief Threatens Yugoslavia with Air Strikes
    Xinhua  02-OCT-98

    LONDON (Oct. 2) XINHUA - British Defense Secretary George Robertson warned Yugoslavia on Friday that the likelihood of air strikes by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was looming closer following the recent massacre of Kosovo Albanians.
         Speaking in an interview with British Sky Television, Robertson said: "The clock is ticking for (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic. He now knows that NATO forces are able and willing to do something about non-compliance."
         Declining to give concrete details on NATO air strikes, Robertson said: "We're now in the final stages of planning, and the determination is there."
         Robertson made it clear that the international community opposed independence for Kosovo but wanted a political settlement that would end the violence.
         "We're absolutely determined that violence is going to stop, and political dialogue is going to start up, " he added.
         At least 16 ethnic Albanian civilians were killed in the village of Gornje Obrinje; another 18 people were killed in the Drenica region on September 26 in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
    __________________________________________________

    Albright, Cohen Say NATO Ready to Act Against Serbs if Diplomacy
    AP  02-OCT-98

    WASHINGTON (AP) -- Amid warnings of military strikes, President Clinton said today the United States and its allies must remain "very, very strong" in demanding that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic loosen his stranglehold on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
         "I believe our allies in Europe are with us," the president said. "I think we all understand, and I hope he got the message." Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Defense Secretary William Cohen told lawmakers that NATO is poised to strike Serb targets if last-ditch diplomatic efforts fail.
         "We need to stop the violence, get a negotiated settlement and work our way through this," Clinton said, stopping to talk with reporters on the South Lawn before boarding a helicopter for a trip to Ohio and Pennsylvania. "We don't want thousands upon thousands of people to be caught up in a war or to starve or freeze this winter because they have been displaced.
         "We cannot allow this conflict to spread again and risk what we stopped in Bosnia starting over again in Kosovo," Clinton added. He said he was "quite hopeful we'll have a positive resolution of it."
         Albright, after a 21/2-hour closed-door briefing for senators, said, "We have consistently been working to get NATO ready, and NATO is now prepared to act." Still, she said, "We believe that the best solution continues to be a diplomatic solution."
         Asked if there was a deadline, Cohen said, "Soon."
         Albright, Cohen and national security adviser Sandy Berger worked to lay the groundwork with Congress in case military strikes are ordered to stop Serb repression of the ethnic Albanian majority in the Serbian province. Weekend massacres of ethnic Albanians lent new momentum for NATO action.
         As the Clinton administration worked to line up bipartisan support in Congress, the U.N. Security Council late Thursday strongly condemned the recent atrocities in Kosovo and called on Milosevic to investigate, identify and punish those responsible for carrying them out.
         Albright said suffering of refugee ethnic Albanians was an uppermost concern.
         "We are very concerned about the humanitarian situation and are working with various agencies to try to get some relief for the people that are up in the hills there," she said.
         Cohen said Milosevic must pull back his army and police in Kosovo, must allow the movement of humanitarian aid, must "allow displaced persons to return to their homes, and then sit down and seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict."
         "Those are the demands set forth by the U.N. Security Council resolution. Those are the demands he's going to have to meet," Cohen said. "And the purpose of having a credible military threat is to indicate that in the absence of meeting those demands, he faces such a threat."
         Nine out of 10 people living in Kosovo are ethnic Albanians. Hundreds have been killed since Serbs began cracking down on Albanian separatists in the province in February.
         "There is an 'atrocity threshold' right now," Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said after Thursday's briefing. "The world is not going to stand by and watch people murdered."
         Hutchison, a frequent critic of the administration's no-exit-date Bosnia policy, told reporters she believed the president would have strong bipartisan support if airstrikes were launched -- even though concern was raised at the briefing over "how far would we be willing to go" in the absence of a peace agreement.
         Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said, "It's way past time. We should punish."
         Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said NATO authorities requested that member countries come forward with specific offers of weapons for possible airstrikes, but a final decision about whether to use force likely won't come until next week.
         The State Department issued a travel warning Thursday urging Americans not to visit Yugoslavia and for Americans now there to consider leaving.

    Copyright 1998& The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
    __________________________________________________

    Yugoslavia Protests Against Albania on Border Incident
    Xinhua  02-OCT-98

    BELGRADE (Oct. 1) XINHUA - Yugoslavia lodged a strong protest against Albania on Thursday for the killing of five of its border guards by armed men coming from the Albanian territory.
         The official Yugoslav news agency Tanjug quoted a note of protest as saying that the incident was a gross violation of Yugoslav territory.
         The note said that about 50 armed terrorists entered the Yugoslav territory from Albania on Wednesday and attacked the Yugoslav border guards with automatic rifles and grenades, killing five on the spot and injuring two others.
         Although Yugoslavia issued warnings and protests repeatedly against Albania for armed men entering its territory, the Albanian authorities had never taken measures to stop them who undermined the border and regional security, it added.
         The Albanian authority should bear responsibility for all the border incidents, it said.
         The note also called on the Albanian authority to severely punish the armed terrorists and take actions as soon as possible to ensure no reoccurrence of similar incidents.
         Another report said that Albania had denied any involvement in the Yugoslavia-mentioned incident.
         Ethnic Albanians, 90 percent of the population in the Serbian province of Kosovo bordering Albania, have sought independence for many years.
         Kosovo sinks into chaos this year which has seen the constant escalation of clashes between the Serbian security forces and the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army.
    __________________________________________________

    Focus-Albanian PM Plans "New Step" on Kosovo
    Reuters  02-OCT-98

    TIRANA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Albania's new Prime Minister Pandeli Majko said on Friday his country would soon announce a "new step," along with NATO and the world community, on the crisis in the neighbouring Serbian province of Kosovo.
         "Very soon we are going to announce a new step which the government will undertake together with NATO and international institutions to respond to the massacres in Kosovo," Majko said.
         Majko, who spoke to reporters immediately after President Rexhep Meidani approved his five-party coalition government, did not elaborate on what the step would be.
         Describing the situation in Kosovo as dramatic, Majko reaffirmed that his Socialist-led government's stance would be to continue fostering contacts with international bodies involved in ending the crisis.
         He said foreign policy would not differ much from that of his predecessor, fellow Socialist Fatos Nano, who resigned four days ago because he could not form a cabinet.
         Nano's government had called for a peaceful solution in Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs nine to one.
         More than 20,000 refugees from Kosovo have fled to Albania to escape the fierce fighting between Serbian security forces and separatist guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
         Nano, who wanted Kosovo to become a third republic of the Yugoslav Federation, Serbia and Montenegro but did not back independence for the province, had repeatedly asked for NATO troops to be deployed in Albania.
         Albania said on Thursday the killing of 30 civilians in Kosovo last weekend backed up accusations that Serbs were carrying out genocide against the province's ethnic Albanian majority.
         Diplomatic sources said NATO defence ministers might hold a special meeting next week to discuss allied military intervention to end the crisis.

    Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved.
    __________________________________________________

    Demirel: Turkey Will Join NATO Action in Kosovo
    Xinhua  02-OCT-98

    TIRANA (Oct. 2) XINHUA - Turkey would participate in a NATO intervention in Kosovo, visiting Turkish President Suleyman Demirel said Friday in Macedonian capital Skopje.
         According to reports from Skopje, Demirel made the statement at a joint press conference with his Macedonian counterpart Kiro Gligorov.
         "Turkey is a member of the Atlantic Alliance and is therefore bound to honor its obligations," he said.
         But he added that if Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic implemented the Security Council resolution, military intervention would not be necessary.
         The Macedonian president said his country would make its position on the matter clear at an opportune time.
         In a joint statement issued after their talks, the two presidents expressed support to the Security Council resolution 1199 on Kosovo and the international efforts to solve the Kosovo crisis.
         Demirel arrived in Macedonia Friday for a two-day visit.
    __________________________________________________

    Russia Urged to Press Belgrade to Withdraw Troops from
    Xinhua  02-OCT-98
    Kosovo

    ROME (Oct. 2) XINHUA - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi urged Russia Friday to press Yugoslavia to pull its troops out of Kosovo.
         In a telephone conversation, Prodi asked Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov to put pressure on Belgrade to fully comply with the UN security council resolution on Kosovo by immediately withdrawing its troops from Kosovo in order to avoid possible NATO military action.
         In reply, Primakov said he was extremely concerned about the situation in Kosovo, saying a constructive attitude must be taken by the Yugoslav government.
         Earlier Friday, Prodi had a telephone conversation with Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova, hoping the Kosovo side to take measures to avoid violence and hold peaceful talks with Yugoslavia.
         The Pentagon said Thursday that a NATO decision on using force in Kosovo could come as early as next Wednesday after the UN secretary general reports on Serbia's compliance with UN demands to end bloodshed in the province.
    __________________________________________________

    Clinton Says Allies with US on Kosovo
    UPI  02-OCT-98

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) _ Saying "we have to be very, very strong," President Clinton called on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosovic to end the bloodshed and reach peace with the Albanian majority in the Serb- controlled Kosovo region of the former Yugoslavia.
         Clinton, before departing on a political fund-raising trip today, said the United States and its allies are in agreement over the Kosovo issue, and added he believes Milosovic has "got the message."
         "We have NATO working. We have the U.N. resolution. I believe that our allies in Europe are with us. And I think that we all understand and we hope he got the message," Clinton said.
         "I think it is very important. We have to be very, very strong here. We need to stop the violence, get a negotiated settlement, and work our way through this. We don't want thousands upon thousands of people to be caught up in a war or to starve or freeze this winter because they have been displaced."
         Meanwhile, in Belgade Deputy Yugoslav Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj suggested "NATO won't dare to bomb us." He warned if NATO does undertake air strikes, attacking aircraft will be destroyed.
         Seselj was responding today to Thursday's U.N. Security Council condemnation of reports of the massacre of civilians by Serb police in Kosovo and the NATO announcement in Brussels of an "activation warning" for military intervention. _-

    Copyright 1998 by United Press International.
    All rights reserved. _-
    __________________________________________________

    Council Keeps up Pressure on Milosevic, Now Going after War
    AP  02-OCT-98

    UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The Security Council kept up the pressure Friday on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, turning its attention to the last Balkan conflict and deploring Milosevic's failure to turn over people indicted for war crimes.
         The council met to discuss the work of the U.N. tribunal for the former Yugoslavia a day after condemning recent massacres of ethnic Albanians in the southern Serb province of Kosovo. Serb forces are trying to crush an independence movement by ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population.
         Council members on Friday reaffirmed the right of the tribunal to investigate crimes committed in Kosovo, where a massacre of ethnic Albanians has sparked international outcry and threats of NATO intervention.
         "There is no debate within the council that the tribunal has jurisdiction over events and activities in Kosovo," U.S. deputy ambassador Peter Burleigh said in refuting Belgrade's claims to the contrary.
         The president of the U.N. tribunal, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, an American, briefed the council Friday on what she said was its duty to enforce the resolutions demanding Belgrade turn over war crimes suspects from the previous Balkan war.
         She focused her briefing on three army officers -- Mile Mrksic, Veselin Slijvancanin and Miroslav Radic -- who have been indicted for war crimes in the massacre of 260 unarmed, non-Serb men following the fall of the Croatian city of Vukovar in 1991.
         McDonald called on the council to issue a resolution to remind Belgrade that it has a legal obligation to turn the men over.
         "It seems to me that the 'deploring' and 'condemning' language is helpful, but stronger actions need to be taken," McDonald told reporters.
         "I wouldn't specify what particular actions, but it seems to me that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should be told that the time is now, in fact long overdue, in terms of responding to its obligations."
         NATO troops have only recently begun actively searching out and arresting war crimes suspects from the Bosnian war. The top two suspects on the tribunal's most wanted list, however -- former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his wartime military chief, Gen. Ratko Mladic -- have not been arrested.
         The council's president, Jeremy Greenstock of Britain, said in a statement that the council "deplored the continuing noncompliance by the Belgrade authorities."
         The tribunal, which sits at The Hague, Netherlands, was set up in 1993 to bring to justice those responsible for atrocities during fighting in the former Yugoslavia. It has indicted 58 suspects and has 26 in custody.
         "The world community has to decide whether they will ignore the signals that we saw in the early days of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia," McDonald said, recalling the council's indecision in the early 1990s over the Bosnian war.
         "The Security Council will have to decide whether they will react the same way," she said. "Except that we now have the opportunity once again to do something about it to make sure that history does not repeat itself."
         In a speech to council members, McDonald said that Belgrade's reason for harboring suspects -- that the constitution forbids extraditing citizens -- had no legal basis.
         "It is a recognized principle of international law that states may not rely on their domestic law to thwart their international obligations," she said in closed consultations.
         The pressure on Milosevic is expected to continue next week, when U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan releases a report on whether the Serbs are complying with a Security Council resolution threatening "further action and additional measures" if fighting continues in Kosovo. The report is due on Monday.

    Copyright 1998& The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
    __________________________________________________

    US Says NATO Strike on Milosevic May Be Imminent
    Reuters  02-OCT-98

    WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic will face NATO air strikes in less than two weeks unless he complies with U.N. demands to end the conflict in Kosovo.
         Secretary of Defence William Cohen stressed Milosevic must comply with all the demands of the United Nations Security Council, not just halt hostilities, to avert a NATO strike, and said he believed the Serb leader would eventually do so.
         He noted one media report that the air strikes, which have been planned for months, could start in two weeks. "I believe action, if required, will take place before that time," he told reporters at the Pentagon.
         "There will not be a two-week hiatus between now and the time that would be necessary to provide relief for the people who are currently suffering," he said.
         National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, in an interview on public television's "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," said air strikes could happen as early as next week. When asked if air strike targets would be elsewhere in Serbia as well as Kosovo, Berger said: "That's correct."
         Cohen said he was making tentative plans to confer with NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, U.S. General Wesley Clark, and NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana in Brussels on Wednesday, though those plans were still being firmed up.
         In another day of bellicose rhetoric from Washington, President Bill Clinton, who discussed the Kosovo crisis with French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said he hoped Milosevic was getting the message.
         "We have to be very, very strong here," Clinton said at the White House. "We need to stop the violence, get a negotiated settlement, and work our way through this."
         A Sept. 23 council resolution demanded that Milosevic cease military operations, take measures to avert a humanitarian disaster and open political talks with Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority, who have been fighting for independence.
         "I don't think any of the NATO allies are going to be satisfied that he simply stops the killing momentarily; that that will measure up to the requirements of the UN Security Council resolution," Cohen said.
         "He should and will be required to meet all of the demands. He cannot pick and choose which provisions he will comply with and leave the others open for negotiation."
         Earlier, after one of a series of briefings to Congress on Kosovo, Cohen indicated he believed the Yugoslav leader would back down. "I think Mr. Milosevic would be making a very big mistake to take on the NATO countries. I don't think he wants that. I don't think that will take place," he said.
         Berger said in recent days Milosevic has withdrawn some forces from Kosovo, but that he has "no illusion" that the move marked a serious effort to withdraw troops from Kosovo.
         "He's a great manipulator," Berger said about Milosevic.
         "Until he really comes to see that the planes are on the runway, so to speak, he will try to slip the punch," Berger said, adding Milosevic might try to make nominal concessions in the hope of finding the weakest link in NATO.
         Massacres of Kosovo villagers believed carried out by Serbian security forces under Milosevic's control have increased pressure on NATO to act to stop a Serbian crackdown that has left 800 dead and driven 300,000 from their homes.
         There is concern as well at the prospects of a more deadly crisis when winter weather hits the Balkans, leaving thousands of refugees in danger of starving or freezing.
         Clinton said: "We don't want thousands upon thousands of people to be caught up in a war or to starve or freeze this winter because they have been displaced. And we are working very, very hard on it."
         The United States is pushing for a diplomatic solution but has made clear that NATO is ready to act militarily if no negotiated settlement is reached, even in the face of strong opposition from Russia, the Serbs traditional ally.
         Secretary of State Madeleine Albright reiterated that view in a speech in Chicago to the U.S.-Russia Business Council.
         "We're continuing to work with Russia throughout this crisis but let me be clear: if at the end of the day we disagree about whether force has to be used, the United States and its allies must be prepared to act," she declared.
         The State Department gave approval for family members of U.S. diplomats and nonemergency official Americans at the U.S. embassy in Belgrade to return to the United States for a period up to 30 days, should they choose to do so.
         This follows a travel warning issued on Thursday urging Americans to leave Yugoslavia because of the increasing likelihood of military action.
         NATO has not yet made the political decision to launch military strikes, but it is expected to take the final step toward authorising them, and name a date for them, at a meeting of the 16-member alliance in Brussels on Wednesday.
         Clinton made clear he believed there was consensus in the alliance to use force. "I believe that our allies in Europe are with us and I think that we all understand and we hope he (Milosevic) got the message," he said.
         Virginia Democrat Jim Moran said after the meeting, "This is not a civil war, this is a campaign of ethnic genocide." He said the United States must show it has "the capacity for leadership" to put an end to it.

    Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved.
    __________________________________________________

    Ireland Urges Irish Nationals to Leave Yugoslavia
    Xinhua  02-OCT-98

    LONDON (Oct. 2) XINHUA - The Irish government Friday called on its nationals to leave Yugoslavia as the possible NATO air strikes were looming closer following two recent alleged massacres of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
         The Irish foreign ministry said in a statement issued in Dublin early Friday: "In view of increasing concerns regarding the political and security situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Department of Foreign Affairs is advising Irish citizens against travel to that country," according to press reports from Dublin.
         "Irish citizens who are currently residing in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia are advised to consider leaving the country," the statement said.
    __________________________________________________

    Montenegro Distances itself from Federation Partner, Serbia
    AP  02-OCT-98

    PODGORICA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Montenegro, the smaller of the two republics that make up Yugoslavia, distanced itself Friday from the policies of its federation partner Serbia in the war-torn Kosovo province.
         Statements by top Montenegro officials came as the furor over the eight-month crackdown in separatist Kosovo intensified, pushing NATO to the verge of long-threatened airstrikes against Yugoslavia.
         "Creating the illusion that Serbia, or Yugoslavia, can solve the Kosovo problem by getting into a battle with the entire international community is an absolute stupidity," said Svetozar Marovic, head of Montenegro's parliament.
         Montenegro's reformist, pro-Western leadership says it has become increasingly alienated from hard-line Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
         President Milo Djukanovic suggested in a statement Friday that Milosevic bears responsibility for resolving the crisis.
         The statement said that at a London meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and two top U.S. mediators in the Kosovo crisis, Robert Gelbard and Christopher Hill, Djukanovic was told the situation "no longer depends on the international community."
         Djukanovic "expressed deep concern over the situation in Kosovo ... and pointed to all the dangers and serious consequences of possible NATO intervention," the statement said, and appealed for additional efforts toward a peaceful solution.
         Efforts to crush separatist resistance in the province in southern Serbia, which is populated largely by ethnic Albanians, has killed hundreds of people and driven an estimated 275,000 from their homes.

    Copyright 1998& The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
    __________________________________________________

    Contact Group Urges Belgrade to Obey UN Resolution.
    Itar-Tass  02-OCT-98

    LONDON, October 3 (Itar-Tass) - Representatives of the Contact Group on the former Yugoslavia again urged Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to act in accordance with US Security Council Resolution No. 1199 and withdraw security forces from Kosovo.
         This is said in the statement of the British Foreign Office following the results of the meeting of the group of six countries here on Friday. The text of the statement came to the Itar-Tass office in London.
         The participants of the day-long intensive discussions denounced what is happening in Kosovo, however, as it comes from the Foreign Office's statement, their views remained different concerning measures of influence on Belgrade.
         As it became known from diplomatic sources, Russia was against air strikes against the Serbs, and favoured a peace political settlement of the situation in Kosovo.
         Those present at the meeting also approved a new draft of the plan for a political settlement in the province proposed by American diplomat Christopher Hill who is attempting to develop contacts between Belgrade and the Kosovo Albanians.

    pol/
    __________________________________________________

    Britain Sends More Warplanes to Italy Ahead of Threatened NATO
    AP  02-OCT-98

    LONDON (AP) -- Britain said Friday it will send four more fighter-bombers to a NATO base in southern Italy as part of the buildup before threatened airstrikes against Yugoslav forces in the province of Kosovo.
         Defense Secretary George Robertson said the GR7 Harrier jump jets will fly from Laarbruch, a British base in Germany, to Gioia del Colle on Monday, bringing the number of Royal Air Force warplanes there to eight.
         "This deployment shows that we mean business and if the violence does not stop, then Britain will play its full part in what needs to be done," Robertson said.
         Senior representatives from the six countries that make up the Contact Group on Yugoslavia -- the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia -- met here Friday and said they were "united in condemning what is happening on the ground" in Kosovo, where a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists has left hundreds dead and 275,000 homeless since it began in February.
         "We all concluded that time is running out," a statement from the six said in reference to possible NATO military action.
         "We are determined to get compliance one way or another," a British Foreign Office spokesman, speaking on terms of customary anonymity, said after the talks.
         The group want Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to halt military action in Kosovo, allow humanitarian agencies into the province and agree to a long-term peace solution.
         Also Friday, the government warned Britons not to travel to Yugoslavia, and England canceled a soccer match with Yugoslavia that was to have been played in London on Nov. 18. The English Football Association said it acted now to end uncertainty over the fixture.
         The Foreign Office said Britons in Yugoslavia should consider leaving now, or be prepared to go at short notice. The State Department in Washington made a similar warning to Americans on Thursday.
         Kosovo is a province of 2 million people in southern Serbia where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs 9-1.

    Copyright 1998& The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
    _______________________________________________________________________

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    Die Bibel sagt 
      Gott hat uns nicht gegeben den Geist der Furcht, 
      sondern der Kraft und der Liebe und der Besonnenheit. 
        2. Timotheus 1,7
         
        Ein Vater der Waisen und ein Helfer der Witwen 
             ist Gott in seiner heiligen Wohnung, 
        ein Gott, der die Einsamen nach Hause bringt, 
             der die Gefangenen herausfuehrt, dass es ihnen wohlgehe. 
        Gelobt sei der Herr taeglich. 
             Gott legt uns eine Last auf, aber er hilft uns auch. 
        Wir haben einen Gott, der da hilft, 
             und den HERRN, der vom Tode errettet.
      Psalm 68, 6.7a.20.21
      Luther-Bibel 1984

    The Bible says 
        For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; 
        but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
        2. Timotheus 1,7
         
      A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, 
           [is] God in his holy habitation. 
      God setteth the solitary in families: 
           he bringeth out those which are bound with chains 
      Blessed [be] the Lord, [who] daily loadeth us [with benefits, even] 
           the God of our salvation. Selah. 
      [He that is] our God [is] the God of salvation; 
           and unto GOD the Lord [belong] the issues from death. 
      Psalm 68, 5.6a.19.20
      Authorized Version 1769 (KJV)
     
                 Helft KOSOVA !  KOSOVA needs HELP !

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