Rebels in Kosovo agree to sign deal

THE COMMANDERS of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army told Western diplomats yesterday they will sign the proposed peace deal for the Serb province.

The KLA's move will sharply increase pressure on the Yugosolav government of Slobodan Milosevic to accept the interim deal on autonomy for the province, which has a large Albanian majority.

Guerrilla leaders told a US envoy, Christopher Hill, they had authorised the plan after meeting at a secret location in Kosovo. However, the rebels have yet to publicise their decision and are still believed to oppose calls to disarm during the three years of autonomy from Serbia envisaged in the deal. If the Albanian rebels formally sign their agreement before 15 March, when the Kosovar and Serbian sides are due to convene in France for further talks, Mr Milosevic may face a renewed threat of air strikes from Nato.

Mr Milosevic has said Yugoslavia might offer self-rule to Kosovo but will not countenance a Nato peace-keeping force on Yugoslav territory to implement the deal.

Richard Holbrooke, the US architect of the 1995 Bosnian peace plan, is expected in Belgrade today to cajole Mr Milosevic into further concessions.

Western diplomats had strongly urged the KLA to agree to the deal.

Germany's Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, said the rebels would be making a "historical mistake" if they rejected the plan. The European Union's foreign affairs commissioner, Hans van den Broek, was more blunt: "We need a 'yes' or it will be a big mess."

The sticking points for the KLA did not only concern weapons. They also oppose Russia's proposed participation in the international peace-keeping force for the province, as Russia is Serbia's close ally.

Suleyman Selimi, the KLA chief of staff, warned at the weekend that the rebels would not accept a compromise. "Halfway measures to independence are unacceptable unless they lead to full independence,'' he said, making a rare public appearance with other KLA leaders.

They were attending a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Adem Jashari, a KLA founder who died with 50 relatives in a three-day battle with Serbian forces.

The gathering of at least 500 armed KLA fighters alongside 5,000 civilians was only a mile from a Serbian military base in the province.

At the last round of Kosovo peace talks in Rambouillet, France, the KLA said it could not sign a deal before consulting soldiers and local people.

Fighting continued on Kosovo's southern border with Macedonia yesterday, as Yugoslav forces bombarded villages near the town of Kacanik. The army prevented international observers from reaching the area.

t The owner of an outspoken Serbian newspaper and two of its journalists were sentenced to five months in jail. The Dnevni Telegraf owner, Slavko Curuvija, and journalists Srdjan Jankovic and Zoran Lukovic were sentenced for "spreading false reports".