Clinton's statement on Kosovo (AFP)

WASHINGTON, March 22 (AFP) - President Bill Clinton's statement Monday on Kosovo:

"It is clear that Serb forces are now engaged in further attacks on Kosovar civilians. Already more than 40,000 Serb security forces are poised in and around Kosovo with additional units on the way.

"These actions are in clear violation of commitments Serbia made last October when we obtained the ceasefire agreement.

"As part of our determined efforts to seek a peaceful solution, I asked Ambassador Holbrooke to see President Milosevic and make clear the choice he faces. That meeting is either going on now or should start in the next few minutes.

"If President Milosevic continues to choose aggression over peace, NATO's military plans must continue to move forward. I will be in close consultation with our NATO allies and with Congress.

"Over the weekend I met with my national security team to discuss the military options. I also spoke with other NATO leaders by telephone. There is strong unity among the NATO allies. We all agree that we cannot allow President Milosevic to continue the aggression with impunity.

"I have also sent a letter to President Yeltsin about the urgency of the situation. Our objective in Kosovo remains clear: To stop the killing and achieve a durable peace that restores Kosovars to self- government, the self-government that President Milosevic stripped away from them a decade ago.

"We and our NATO allies and Russia all agree that this is the right goal. The Kosovar Albanians have accepted this course.

"Only President Milosevic and Serbia stand in the way of peace. Serbia's mounting aggression must be stopped. Since the adjournment of the peace talks in Paris less than a week ago, an estimated 30,000 more Kosovars have fled their homes. The number now exceeds more than a quarter of a million people, one out of every eight people in Kosovo. Many of them now are in neighboring Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro, all of which could be quickly drawn into this conflict.

"So could other nations in the region, including Bosnia, where allied determination ended a terrible war, and our allies Greece and Turkey.

"Seeking to end this tragedy in Kosovo and finding a peaceful solution is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do, very much in our national interests if we are to leave a stable, peaceful and democratic Europe to our children.

"We have learned a lot of lessons in the last 50 years. One of them surely is that we have a stake in European freedom and security and stability. I hope that can be achieved by peaceful means. If not, we have to be prepared to act.

"Thank you."

Holbrooke: No breakthrough with Milosevic over Kosovo

(CNN) -- Backed by an armada of NATO warships and bombers awaiting orders to launch airstrikes against Yugoslavia, senior U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke made a last-minute attempt Monday to persuade Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to accept a U.S.-drafted peace plan for Kosovo.

But after nearly four hours of talks, the Yugoslav leader refused to budge.

"I would be misleading you if I suggested that today's talks resulted in any significant or substantial change of the situation," Holbrooke said after briefing Washington on the meeting late Monday.

Holbrooke is spending the night in Belgrade and is expected to have additional discussions with Milosevic, either by telephone or in person, before leaving Yugoslavia.

"We're still extremely pessimistic," a Clinton administration official said.

Officials said Milosevic is still refusing to allow 28,000 NATO-led troops into Kosovo to enforce the peace plan, which would grant ethnic Albanians a three-year period of significant local autonomy. Kosovo Albanian leaders signed the accord at Kosovo peace talks in Paris last week.

In a statement broadcast on Serbian television, Milosevic called the talks in France a fraud because the United States and its European partners dictated the text of the agreement "before the start of the negotiations" and without consulting "the state whose interests are at stake."

The statement said Milosevic told Holbrooke he was ready for serious talks to reach "a just and tenable solution" to the Kosovo crisis.

'On the brink of military action'

NATO has threatened military strikes against Yugoslavia if Serb leaders refuse to sign the accord and continue an offensive that has displaced more than 25,000 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo since Saturday.

The North Atlantic Council, NATO's top policymaking body, authorized Secretary-General Javier Solana on Monday to order airstrikes if Holbrooke fails to sign the accord.

NATO officials declined to say what time frame Holbrooke was working under or what level of concession from Milosevic would be enough to halt airstrikes.

Before leaving for Belgrade on Monday, Holbrooke said: "Ultimately the decision as to what happens will be made by the decisions and actions of the Yugoslav leadership. They have the power to stop this tragedy. They have the power to take action to reverse it."

Otherwise, Holbrooke said, "we are on the brink of military action."

Jovanovic: Ultimatum won't work

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said earlier Monday his country would welcome a "fair, democratic" peace agreement for Kosovo but again rejected the one presented by international mediators.

In a CNN interview, Jovanovic said threatened airstrikes would destabilize the Balkans and foster "terrorism" in other countries in the region.

Jovanovic said that any ultimatum aimed at forcing Milosevic's signature was doomed to fail.

He said NATO bombings would mark an "aggression against a sovereign state" and that anyone attacking Yugoslavia "would be met with all resources we have."

Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, due to leave Tuesday for a visit to the United States, urged Washington and its allies not to attack Yugoslavia.

"We are categorically against the use of force against Yugoslavia," Primakov told reporters. "We believe that political levers to influence the situation are far from being exhausted yet."

Reports of fierce fighting and mass killing in Kosovo

In Kosovo, fighting raged between government forces and the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army in the northern and central parts of the province.

Two people were killed and four others seriously injured late Monday when bombs exploded at two ethnic Albanian-owned cafes in the provincial capital, Pristina.

Serb police were patrolling the streets of Pristina in armored personnel carriers Monday with turret-mounted machine guns, and tensions were running high.

The ethnic Albanian-run Kosovo Information Center said at least five villages were burning Monday in the northern Drenica region and Lapastica, the rebel headquarters for northeastern Kosovo.

KLA fighters ambushed police near Srbica, triggering a gunbattle that lasted several hours, witnesses said. Serb sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said rebels attacked the police station in Malisevo with mortars and automatic weapons.

Ethnic Albanian residents in Srbica said black-masked Yugoslav soldiers shot to death at least 16 unarmed people in a weekend campaign to crush separatist resistance. Serb authorities, however, said the only Albanians killed in Srbica were seven armed KLA fighters who died in battle.

The townspeople's accounts of summary executions could not be independently confirmed.

Smoke hung thickly over parts of Srbica, where muzzle flashes from Yugoslav army tanks could be seen amid the sound of outgoing shelling.

Chest to chest clashes in the villages of Llap

Llap, March 22 (Kosovapress) There were heavy clashes, between UÇK Units and Serb military/police forces, today in most of the villages of OZ of Llap. The fighting started in the early hours of thins morning, when serb war machinery, positioned in the Airport of Dumosh, attacked villages Godishnjak, Sllabajë, Penuh, Bricë, Konushefc and Gllamnik. These villages are being attacked, using heavy artillery, from Lluzhan and Podjevë-Prishtinë road also. Serb forces have engaged thousands of infantry troops and "Kaçusha" missiles to enter these villages. Our UÇK Units have defended their positions and fought chest to chest battles today against serb occupiers. Fighting is of very high intensity and especially in Konushefc and Gllamnik, were the situation is dramatic. On our side there are no casualties, while enemy suffered unaccountable human and war machinery casualties.

Sporadic fighting and shelling in villages of Artakoll

Vushtrri, March 22 (Kosovapress) A month has passed, since the first attacks on the villages of Artakoll, on the foothill of Qyqavica. Onslaughts are continuing today with increased intensity. Villages Strofc, Beçuk, Zhilivodë, Bivolak, etc. are being shelled today. Large Serbian reinforcements have arrived in Mihaliq and Kodra e Beçukut. During the sporadic clashes, Serb forces are suffering large casualties. UÇK units have preserved their positions in this region while keeping their casualties to a minimum.

Father of 10, died

Gllogoc, March 22 (Kosovapress) Vesel Dervishi, father of ten, from Poklek I Ri, has died last night in Prishtinë, from the wounds received during the clashes and shelling at his village. He was civilian and was lethally shoot in front of his home.

Xhemail Mulaku was found dead

Kaçanik, March 22 (Kosovapress) On the 21st of March, Xhemail Ramadan Mulaku (38) mentally ill, was found dead. He was killed on 9th of March, by Serbian terrorists, during the serb offensive against Kaçanik highlands. He was buried today in his village Ivajë.

Serb forces are burning villages of Drenicë again

Clinton Gives Milosevic Last Chance (Reuters)

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton Monday gave Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic one last chance for peace and U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke prepared for further 11th-hour talks with Milosevic to try to avert NATO air strikes.

``If President Milosevic continues to choose aggression over peace, NATO's military plans must continue to move forward,'' Clinton told reporters at the White House.

He and his aides were assessing the result of Holbrooke's four-hour meeting with Milosevic in Belgrade.

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Holbrooke would either meet or talk by telephone with Milosevic later in the evening or possibly Tuesday.

NATO was poised to launch air strikes against Serbian military targets over Milosevic's refusal to call off a Serb offensive against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and sign a peace deal for the Yugoslav province.

During the first round of talks, Holbrooke ``made very clear to President Milosevic that this was a grave situation and that he must live up to his obligations and agree to a political settlement,'' the official said.

After his talks, Holbrooke spoke in a secure conference call to Clinton's foreign policy team. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger and Defense Secretary William Cohen briefed Clinton on the discussions.

White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said Holbrooke was delivering a ``stark message'' to Milosevic that ``it's time to sign the political agreement or face the consequences.''

Milosevic has balked at the deal in part because it would include deployment of a 28,000-strong NATO-led force in Kosovo to ensure its implementation. The Kosovo Albanians have signed the plan.

``It's not a negotiation,'' Lockhart said of Holbrooke's mission, calling it instead a ``last chance for peace.''

NATO authorities said the military alliance could launch a long and protracted bombing campaign within hours if the peace mission failed.

The alliance has about 400 aircraft assembled in the region, half of them American warplanes. Any attack would likely start with cruise missiles on Serb anti-aircraft defenses fired by six U.S. Navy ships, including two submarines, in the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas.

``We know the Serbs have good air defenses. But if it comes to strikes, Milosevic will know that his army has been hit with a very big hammer,'' said a U.S. defense official, who asked not to be identified.

Clinton invited top Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress to the White House Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Kosovo. Some members of both parties have been skeptical about U.S. involvement in what they called a Yugoslavia civil war.

On Capitol Hill, a divided Senate debated the propriety of pending air strikes in Kosovo, with several Republicans expressing reservations about committing U.S. military forces to carry out the dangerous attacks.

``I'm afraid we may be starting something we can't get out of,'' Republican Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma said during debate on whether to block funding for military action in Kosovo unless it was authorized by Congress.

Clinton was earlier briefed by Berger on his return Monday from an overnight trip to his Camp David retreat. Talking to reporters afterward, Clinton painted a grim picture of the situation.

He said that since peace talks collapsed last week, 30,000 more ethnic Albanians have fled their homes, raising to more than a quarter million the number of refugees.

He said 40,000 Serb security forces were in and around Kosovo, violating a cease-fire agreement from last October. He warned the war could spread to neighboring countries.

``Only President Milosevic and Serbia stand in the way of peace. Serbia's mounting aggression must be stopped,'' Clinton said.

Clinton, who spoke by telephone Sunday with leaders of Britain, France and Germany, said there was ``strong unity'' among the NATO allies.

Lockhart said the United States would not feel constrained from acting while Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov is in Washington. Primakov arrives Tuesday for previously scheduled talks with Vice President Al Gore.

Heavier air attacks against Serbs planned: Pentagon officials

WASHINGTON, March 22 (AFP) - NATO is turning to heavy, prolonged air attacks from the outset of any military action against Serbia, dispensing with plans for warning strikes followed by a pause for diplomacy, Pentagon officials said Monday.

US military planners have pressed NATO to drop the pauses for fear that air strikes would be difficult to start again once they have been stopped, according to the Pentagon sources.

Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said the strikes now on tap will be "very significant and serious," aimed at reducing as much as possible Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's ability to attack ethnic Albanians.

Last fall, NATO drew up plans for a phased air campaign that would begin with a limited strike with cruise missiles, followed by a pause for diplomacy. If Milosevic failed to come to his senses, the plan went, then NATO would decide whether to proceed with a phased air campaign.

But in January, NATO planners combined the limited strikes with the opening phase of the air strike, officials said

And on Monday at a meeting in Brussels of NATO ambassadors, the allies went a step further by giving Solana the authority to conduct "a broader range of air operations if necessary," requiring only that he consult the allies first.

That means the air campaign can now proceed in two broad phases with little or no pause between them, according to Pentagon officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Cruise missiles fired from US Navy ships and submarines as well as B-52 bombers are still likely to open the air campaign, but as part of a larger effort to punch holes through Yugoslav air defenses and open the way for broader air attacks on Serb forces.

An estimated 40,000 Serb troops are massed in and around Kosovo where fighting has intensified since the collapse of peace talks in Paris last week.

Pentagon officials have been very guarded about what NATO will target, or whether they will strike headquarters and government buildings around Belgrade as they did in December in a four day bombing campaign of Iraq.

More than 400 NATO military aircraft have been mobilized for the Kosovo operation, but the lion's share of the operation will fall to the US air forces, which numbers some 250 aircraft, including a dozen F-117 stealth fighters and seven B-52 bombers armed with air-launched cruise missiles.

B-2 stealth bombers, capable of dropping precision guided bombs against hardened targets, also could be ordered to strike from US bases. The two billion dollar aircraft have never seen combat, however.

Pentagon officials warn that perils lay ahead for allied pilots, who will face a more formidable air defense system than they have seen in either Iraq or Bosnia, where NATO air strikes in 1995 helped drive the Serbs to make peace with Moslems and Croats.

The Yugoslav integrated air defense system consists of as many as 100 surface-to-air missile batteries linked to early warning radar and command centers. Pentagon officials say they are manned by well-trained troops, well dug in and in some case protected by hardened shelters.

Witnesses Say Serbs Are Killing

By GEORGE JAHN Associated Press Writer

SRBICA, Yugoslavia (AP) - Ethnic Albanian residents of this Kosovo town said Monday that black-masked Yugoslav soldiers shot to death over a dozen unarmed people in a weekend campaign to crush

separatist resistance.

Serb authorities, however, said the only Albanians killed in Srbica were seven armed fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army who died in battle.

The townspeople's accounts of summary executions could not be independently confirmed. Their claims came after Yugoslav army and Serbian police poured troops and tanks into Kosovo's northern Drenica

region.

Fighting continued Monday, and ethnic Albanians said at least five villages were burning in Drenica along with others elsewhere. Smoke hung thickly over parts of Srbica, where muzzle flashes from Yugoslav

army tanks could be seen amid the sound of outgoing shelling from hills and meadows on the southern edge of town.

During the weekend campaign, one Srbica resident, Dinore Shaqiri, said she saw about 20 unarmed men taken to a road crossing near the edge of town by masked troops. ``Then,'' she said, ``they

surrounded them and shot them.''

She said she witnessed two other men shot to death in separate incidents.

Other sources reported at least 16 unarmed ethnic Albanian men killed after masked Yugoslav soldiers moved in on Srbica, located northwest of Pristina on the edge of the guerrilla stronghold region of

Drenica.

Still others spoke of arrests and beatings of ethnic Albanian men by Yugoslav soldiers, and of more killings of some Albanian men in a Serb jail.

Serb authorities denied the ethnic Albanian reports, saying they were an attempt to manipulate international opinion during a last-ditch effort Monday by special U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke to convince

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to accept a peace plan or face NATO airstrikes.

``Albanian terrorists and separatists are trying with fresh new manipulations about mass killings to provoke an international reaction and increase the pressure on Yugoslavia,'' said Col. Bozidar Filic,

spokesman for Serb police in Kosovo.

Holbrooke finished four hours of talks with Milosevic Monday night before returning to the U.S. Embassy. It was unclear if the talks were finished for the night.

In Srbica, meanwhile, a rickety bus left town Monday crowded with fearful women and children who said their houses were shelled and burned.

``They shelled my house, and I couldn't close the door any more,'' said Adile Mustafa as she waited at a bus stop.

She said she did not witness any summary executions, ``but Saturday, they rounded up about 10 people, took them up the hill and then we heard shooting.''

Another woman said Yugoslav troops took her husband and other men to a prison in Kosovska Mitrovica to the north. He was released with a message for relatives of ``Sabit Veliqi and some people from

Lausa with the surname Vojvoda'' to come to retrieve their bodies, she said. Police chased away reporters before they could ask her name.

On the northern side of town, Yugoslav heavy weaponry fired Monday into surrounding hills. Two houses were seen going up in flames, one several minutes after three Serb police left it. More than 25,000

people have been driven from their homes since Saturday, U.N. officials said Monday.

Mrs. Shaqiri, an elderly woman making her way back to Srbica on foot, described seeing 22 Albanian men killed Saturday on a road on the outskirts of town to the south.

She said she saw the shootings from her third-floor balcony before being forced out by soldiers. ``They put them all together at the crossroads and shot them'' at close range, she said.

At about the same time, two Serb policemen were killed nearby by the KLA, she said.

Mrs. Shaqiri said she saw two other men shot to death separately. She identified one as Yusuf, from the village of Krusevac.

``He was in his house in the doorway,'' she said. ``They asked him for his gun. He said he didn't have one, and then they killed him.''

Another Srbica man was killed after the soldiers asked him for the keys to his car and he said he could not find them, she said.

She identified two other victims as ``sons of Osman Musa,'' adding she did not witness them being shot but ``saw their bodies in the street.''

In the provincial capital of Pristina, Baton Haxhiu, editor of the daily Koha Ditore, said he had received reports of 16 unarmed men executed over the weekend in Srbica, including Veliqi.

The ethnic Albanian Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms also received reports of 16 unarmed men killed.