Serbia urged by EU to take `last chance'

EU foreign ministers told President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia yesterday he was facing his "last chance" for a peaceful…

EU foreign ministers told President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia yesterday he was facing his "last chance" for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Kosovo.

In a statement issued in Brussels, the ministers expressed alarm at the Yugoslav security forces' attacks in the mainly Albanian province. "Civilians are again the main victims. Thousands of refugees are again forced to flee their homes and seek shelter in the woods while their homes are being devastated in a completely unacceptable scorched earth policy."

The ministers reiterated the major western powers' warning of "severest consequences" if Belgrade did not comply with demands to scale back its military presence in Kosovo.

They also expressed support for "the resolve of the international community to take the necessary action to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. The EU strongly urged President Milosevic to reverse his course of obstruction, to seize the last chance for a peaceful solution and to accept the fair and balanced outcome represented by the Rambouillet Accords."

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Earlier the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, said he had little hope of the US envoy, Mr Richard Holbrooke, persuading Mr Milosevic to sign a peace deal for Kosovo.

Germany is part of the six-nation Contact Group on Kosovo and has said it will support whatever NATO-led action is deemed necessary to bring peace to the southern Serbian province.

Mr Schroder said Mr Milosevic was solely responsible for the seriousness of the situation and said Germany and its partners could not accept the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe there. The White House warned that Mr Milosevic has one "last chance for peace", saying he must sign the Kosovo peace agreement or face NATO air strikes.

White House spokesman Mr Joe Lockhart said Mr Holbrooke was delivering a "stark message" to Mr Milosevic that "it's time to sign the political agreement or face the consequences". His mission was not a negotiation.

He said Mr Holbrooke would not have been dispatched if there was no hope for peace.

A senior NATO general said the military alliance could launch a long and protracted bombing campaign within hours if the peace mission fails.

"We have a very substantial and detailed plan for such an air campaign which can be rather long and protracted," Gen Klaus Naumann, NATO's military chief of staff, said in an interview.

He said Mr Milosevic was "seriously mistaken" if he thought NATO was not united in its determination to act if the Serbs failed to sign the peace accord.

The alliance has 430 aircraft assembled in the region. Mr Lockhart said the objective would be to "attack and degrade" Mr Milosevic's ability to repress the Kosovo Albanians.