- WASHINGTON (AFP) - Belgrade is bracing for war with NATO, moving armor
and troops to Kosovo's border with Macedonia apparently in response to
a buildup there of British, French and German forces, the Pentagon said
Tuesday.
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- The Yugoslav army has also been moving
surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns around Serbia and continuing
a buildup of forces along the border with Kosovo, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth
Bacon said.
-
- "They certainly are bracing for
war but they continue to participate in the talks," Bacon said, referring
to peace talks which resumed Monday in France.
-
- Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
has rejected the proposed deployment of a 28,000-strong NATO-led force
to enforce a peace agreement in Kosovo that would give the province autonomy
but not independence.
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- NATO's military presence in Macedonia
has grown to some 12,000 troops as British, French and German soldiers
move in to form the "enabling" force that would enter Kosovo
if a peace agreement is reached. The NATO presence includes a 2,600-strong
French-led extraction force deployed last fall to protect international
monitors in Kosovo.
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- But in the meantime, the Yugoslav army
has built up its forces inside Kosovo and on the province's perimeter.
-
- "There also has been concentration
of Serb troops along the border between Kosovo and Macedonia," Bacon
said. "And that's been building for several weeks." Bacon estimated
the Yugoslav army's presence in Kosovo at 14,000 to 18,000 troops, and
another 16,000 to 21,000 on the perimeter. (c) 1999 Agence France Presse)
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