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Sunday, June 6, 1999
NATO seeks proof of pullout from Yugoslav army for bombings to stop
Agencies
Yugoslavia, June 5: Face-to-face talks between Nato and Yugoslav military commanders to map out the Serb withdrawal from Kosovo have started after a three-hour delay. The Yugoslavs had failed to turn up at the appointed time because they objected to the venue for the talks, at a cafe just inside the Macedonian border with Kosovo. Nato said there will be no negotiations during the meeting, at which Yugoslavia was expected to sign an agreement on the withdrawal. The alliance said it would give the Yugoslav army one day to prove it was pulling out of the province. If it did so, the bombing would be suspended, Nato spokesman Major Trey Cate said. The timetable for a Serbian withdrawal calls for all 40,000 troops to be out within seven days. But if the Serbs hesitate in accepting Nato's terms, the bombing will go on, the Pentagon has said. The talks were to focus on the routes Yugoslav troops should use to leave the province, to allow Nato to verify the departure of the military and their heavy weapons. Aspreparations for the meeting got underway, international monitors reported the heaviest Yugoslav shelling of the Kosovo-Albanian border for almost two weeks. On Friday evening, shells hit as far as 15 kilometres into Albanian territory. Heavy Nato air raids continued in Kosovo overnight, with the alliance reporting more than 500 sorties, including 113 strikes on 69 anti-air defence missions. UN gets into gear Diplomatic activity to restore peace to Kosovo is being stepped up at the United Nations. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said work could begin next week on a Security Council resolution setting out the terms of a peace settlement. He also said the special Balkan envoys, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt and Slovak Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan, are to discuss plans with UN agencies in Geneva on the reconstruction of Kosovo and the rehabilitation of refugees. Mr Annan has suggested a single individual appointed by him should be in charge of a wide range of functions, including the return ofrefugees, policing and reconstruction. Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

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