Letter: Kosovo crisis

Sir: President Milosevic has refused to accept a foreign peace- keeping force in Kosovo, but Nato air strikes on Serbia will not make peace in Kosovo more realisable.

Western European and US mediators may have run out of patience in Paris but bombing a sovereign country to force it into signing a peace accord is a dangerous game. Air strikes against Serbia should not just be seen in the context of retribution for Serbian atrocities against the Kosovan Albanians. For, rather than persuading Milosevic to sign up to the peace agreement, Nato action will only dissuade the Serbs from entering any further peace negotiations and create a further rift between Nato and Russia.

Unlike Iraq, Serbia has no weapons of mass destruction and is not threatening its neighbours. We may feel uncomfortable about the situation in Kosovo but air strikes are not a catch-all solution for every ethnic conflict.

MARK FRANKEL

London NW3