Britain and the US yesterday stepped up pressure on the Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, to stop aggression against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. The US said that Mr Milosevic will face NATO air strikes in less than two weeks unless he complies with UN demands to end the conflict in Kosovo.
The US Secretary of Defence, Mr William Cohen, stressed Mr Milosevic must comply with all 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.
As officials from six nations gathered in London to discuss the crisis, Britain said time was running out for Serbia to avoid military punishment by complying with UN demands for a ceasefire and negotiations with Kosovo's Albanian leadership on autonomy for the rebellious province.
"The military planning is almost complete, and I and other NATO defence ministers . . . have made it crystal clear that we are ready to act. So if you're listening in Belgrade, realise now that the clock is ticking," Britain's Defence Secretary, Mr George Robertson, told the ruling Labour party's annual conference.
Britain said it was doubling the number of strike aircraft ready for possible military action against Serbia in retaliation for its aggression against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
The Ministry of Defence said it was sending four Harrier ground attack jets to join four others already based with NATO in southern Italy "to ensure that British aircraft are in position to take part in military action if required".
The announcement followed a warning by the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, to the Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, to comply with a UN resolution demanding that he withdraw his forces from Kosovo and open political dialogue with the ethnic leaders of the province.
"For heavens sake let us get our act together now and give him the message that he needs to be given," Mr Blair said.
Mr Christopher Hill, Washington's mediator in Kosovo, said there was no justification for Serbia's security forces to remain in strength in the province because the Kosovo Liberation Army had few fighters left in the field.
"Patience has been exhausted and we need to see a pull-back of the security forces, whose only purpose at this point that we can see is to be in opposition to the general public there," Mr Hill said before a meeting in London of the six-nation Contact Group in charge of Balkan peace efforts.
A statement after the meeting said: "We expect full and immediate compliance with UNSCR (United Nations Security Council resolution) 1199. This has not so far been achieved."
Serbia offered to re-open talks with leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority yesterday in the latest move apparently aimed at convincing the West Belgrade wants to end bloodshed in the province. Serbian authorities said they have already withdrawn troops and police from the battle zones in western Kosovo and sent them back to barracks.
But Kosovo's Albanian leader, Mr Ibrahim Rugova, said Serb forces had made only tactical changes to their positions.
The secretary-general of NATO, Mr Javier Solana, added his voice to calls for Mr Milosevic to halt his military crackdown and comply with UN resolution 1199. Diplomatic sources in Brussels said NATO defence ministers might hold a special meeting next Wednesday, underscoring the threat to Mr Milosevic.
Crucial to a NATO decision on whether to use force will be an assessment due on Monday by the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, of whether Mr Milosevic has complied with Resolution 1199.
If Mr Annan's report is critical some NATO allies believe it will be time to order military intervention in Kosovo, without first seeking UN authorisation in the form of a further Security Council resolution - which Russia could veto.