TO READ the newspapers this weekend one might conclude that Nato is about to launch a land invasion of Kosovo. Months after Serbia embarked on its vicious campaign of ethnic cleansing, one might be forgiven for assuming the West was about to roll up its sleeves, hurl Slobodan Milosevic's forces back into Serbia and escort hundreds of thousands of refugees home.

The Washington Post

The rule book of global realpolitik is becoming obsolete in relation to the present conflict

UNITED NATIONS investigators stated publicly for the first time yesterday that they have evidence of "massive war crimes" committed by Serb forces in Kosovo. They said nobody, including Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, was immune from prosecution.

SEVERAL HUNDRED Montenegrins took to the streets of the republic's historic capital yesterday to protest against the recent deployment of Yugoslav army reservists and heavy artillery to the area.

Opinions on the disagreements between Nato

"BLAIR - You Lead, We Die" read the placards of an enthusiastic crowd as Tony Blair flew to Tirana to visit Kosovo refugees and Albanian politicians.

Letter:

THE WEST breathed a sigh of relief yesterday after the Slovakian people elected Rudolf Schuster as their president in preference to Vladimir Meciar, the stridently nationalist former prime minister .

In a short trip to Italy last month, after looking at my favourite Roman monuments, I finally got round to visiting the Vatican. I know that visitors to St Peter's are supposed to enthuse about Michelangelo's soaring cupola and the magnificent canopy of gilded bronze, designed by Bernini, which houses the papal altar. But as I stood in the nave, surrounded by gleaming marble and gold, I felt my flesh creep. I thought about the Inquisition and the persecution of so-called heretics, one of whom - the philosopher Giordano Bruno - is commemorated by a darkly brooding statue on the spot where he was burnt to death in Campo de' Fiori, just across the Tiber. And I thought about all the women who have died in botched abortions, or from repeated pregnancies, because of the church's implacable opposition to contraception and abortion.

1am: Explosions heard in Belgrade suburbs.

THERE WERE more heart- rending scenes on Kosovo's borders yesterday as aid workers tried to entice terrified refugees to move from camps in northern Albania to make space for more of the displaced. Meanwhile, Slobodan Milosevic was reported to be stepping up his campaign in the province.

A 'peace deal' that would send the ethnic Albanians back to their tormentors must be condemned

Strategy