NATO warned both sides in Kosovo yesterday that it was "ready to act" if they reject an international blueprint for peace due to be drafted tomorrow, while the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, said that such a military threat was necessary to get talks underway. The NATO Secretary-General, Mr Javier Solana, in Brussels, said the alliance had "decided to increase its military preparedness to ensure that the demands of the international community are met".
But it remained to be seen whether Belgrade or the divided Kosovo Albanian factions would heed the call to sit down at the negotiating table with international mediators.
"There is, and there will be, no international conference with the participation of terrorists," said Mr Ivica Dacic, a spokesman for the Socialist Party (SPS) of President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia.
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) political representative Mr Adem Demaci said his side wanted "some guarantee" from Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic, that attacks would cease.
"It is impossible to negotiate when Serbia is waging war and killing Albanians," he told Slovenian television.
Meanwhile, clashes took place on at least three fronts in Kosovo, where the ethnic Albanian majority is demanding independence.
The bloodiest fighting was at Bistrazin village, near the western town of Djakovica, where the KLA attacked police with automatic weapons, mortars and grenades, the Serbian-run media centre in Pristina said.
The OSCE Kosovo verification mission confirmed the clash, adding that two KLA guerrillas were killed and two Serbian policemen wounded.
To the west, Yugoslav troops fought a "strong group" of rebels seen crossing the border from neighbouring Albania, where the KLA has rear bases, Serbian sources close to the army said.
The clash also took place near Djakovica.
To the north of Pristina, sporadic tank, mortar and machinegun fire was heard yesterday around Luzane, where the army targeted KLA hillside positions with battle tanks on Wednesday.
Visiting NATO headquarters in Brussels, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, backed NATO plans to threaten military intervention over Kosovo.
Although the immediate priority is to get peace talks going, the threat of bombs and missiles could help diplomacy succeed, Mr Annan said.
"If it becomes necessary to use force, we will have to look at it," he said after meeting NATO ambassadors. "But the threat is essential."
British officials said today's Contact Group meeting could pave the way for Dayton-style peace talks at a neutral European venue.
Up to six US air force bombers could fly to a British airbase for possible NATO attacks against Yugoslavia, a British defence ministry spokesman said yesterday. "As a precautionary measure, a few American B-52 bombers may be pre-positioned . . . in preparation for possible military action," the said.
Reuters adds: The Kosovo Liberation Army have apparently won a seat at the table for international peace talks to end the conflict in the Serbian province. The KLA appears to face its stiffest challenge - assuming the mantle of political responsibility.