NATO generals and the Yugoslav army have signed an agreement permitting unarmed NATO spotter plans to overfly Kosovo as part of a peace deal. The agreement was signed by NATO generals and Gen Momcilo Perisic, chief of staff of the Yugoslav army, in a meeting at the Ministry of Defence lasting about 45 minutes, sources said.
Mr Javier Solana, the Secretary-General of NATO, was in Belgrade last night to deliver another warning to President Slobodan Milosevic of the consequences Belgrade faces if it fails to withdraw Serbian troops and allow villagers to return to their homes in Kosovo. Mr Solana said that despite some progress, Mr Milosevic had a long way to go to meet NATO's deadline for compliance by tomorrow.
"I would send a very clear message" to Mr Milosevic, Mr Solana said before arriving in Belgrade, "and that is that the solution to the problem is not signing papers but to comply with agreements that have been achieved." Two senior NATO commanders - Gen Wesley Clark of the US and Gen Klaus Naumann of Germany, chairman of the alliance's military committee - were with Mr Solana.
International officials also met in Paris and Vienna yesterday to push ahead the assessment process aimed at making sure Mr Milosevic adheres to the breakthrough agreement reached this week with US envoy Mr Richard Holbrooke.
In Vienna, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed formally to oversee the 2,000-member "ground verification mission" - unarmed monitors whose work is to ensure the terms of the Belgrade agreement are being kept. The OSCE will sign the verification agreement today in Belgrade. The Balkans Contact Group of five leading western nations plus Russia, meeting in Paris, fully endorsed the agreement on Kosovo but maintained its support for air strikes if Mr Milosevic failed to comply when a four-day grace period expired today.
In Kosovo, the UN refugee agency delivered more aid to displaced refugees campaign in the secessionist province. In Kisna Reka, refugees living in a makeshift camp of 3,000 people in a nearby gully carted off 110 lb sacks of flour, bags of clothing, cooking oil and other supplies.