The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, last night praised the British Muslim community for aiding Kosovan refugees. He said NATO's action would continue until all had been able to return safely to their homeland.
Mr Blair spoke again of his emotional response to witnessing the plight of those forced from Kosovo, when he became the first prime minister to address the Muslim Council of Britain.
Britain has announced it will accept 1,000 refugees a week as soon as arrangements are put in place. This came after criticism from Germany of the trifling response from the rest of Europe.
In a speech at the Commonwealth Institute in London, Mr Blair said: "I want to start in the only place I can start - with the terrible tragedy happening in Kosovo. I was at the border where the refugees were arriving. It was one of the most disturbing, shocking few hours of my life.
"What I saw, the stories I heard, were of the most appalling barbarity. I saw thousands of refugees who had been on the move non-stop for a month. . . But what hits you most is the line upon line of refugees as far as the eye can see - but with the total absence of young men. Every woman I spoke to had a harrowing story to tell of how her husband, or brother, or son had been taken from her and murdered; how bodies had piled up in the streets; how relatives had disappeared never to be seen again."
Mr Blair returned from a visit to the Balkans on Tuesday. He had toured the Stenkovec refugee camp in Macedonia and visited the Blace border crossing post there.
He praised the Muslim community's response to the tragedy, pointing out that £2.5 million had been raised for the refugees by the Islamic Relief and Muslim Aid charities.
A French newsletter specialising in defence issues said yesterday a soldier from Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment was lost behind Yugoslav lines in Kosovo about 10 days ago. A British Ministry of Defence spokesman said it was aware of the report but never commented on SAS activities.
The usually reliable weekly TTU-Europe also said British and American special forces first entered Kosovo on the night of March 20-21st, five days before the start of Allied air strikes against Yugoslav forces.