BUJANOVAC, Yugoslavia (AP) — A top Serbian official today gave NATO troops in Kosovo three days to end an ethnic Albanian offensive in the demilitarized zone between the province and the rest of Serbia.
"The police have given the 72-hour deadline for the attacks to stop," said Bozo Prelevic, one of Serbia's three interior ministers. "We have received firm assurances that KFOR will prevent any incursions (from Kosovo) and disarm and arrest the terrorists who have come from Kosovo."
Officials with Kosovo's international peacekeeping force, known as KFOR, did not immediately respond to the deadline. Prelevic said they had until 7 p.m. local time Monday to calm the situation.
"After that, the police will return to the territory of the republic of Serbia (in the buffer zone) with the means that are available," Prelevic said, adding that police would not use heavy weaponry and would do their best not to violate the Kosovo peace deal.
Ethnic Albanian militants — who have pushed Serb police out of much of the 3-mile demilitarized zone with Kosovo — opened fire at Serb positions in the Presevo Valley on Thursday, local media reported. No one was injured.
In an assault Tuesday and Wednesday, the rebel group killed four Serb police officers, wounded dozens and captured a police checkpoint and the main road to Kosovo.
About 600 people fled the area this week, said Astrid Van Genderen Stort, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency. The ethnic Albanian refugees that crossed the border into Kosovo reported shooting and shelling of their villages, she said.
"Some persons have clearly fled quickly from the area, as they have arrived with few belongings and some without overcoats as they could not return to their houses," she said.
There are fears the situation could escalate if Serb police fight back. Massive intervention on the part of Serb forces in the border zone would constitute a violation of a Kosovo peace deal and lead to tensions with NATO.
The ethnic Albanian extremists are fighting for independence from Serbia. They want to unite the predominantly Albanian Presevo Valley with Kosovo.
Stevan Nikcevic, another Serb interior minister, said earlier that a combined "police-political" action is needed to solve the deadlock. Nikcevic said Serb police and Kosovo's NATO peacekeepers should work together.
"We have to cooperate with KFOR," he said. "Our police cannot do it without KFOR support."
British Flight Lt. Mark A. Whitty, a spokesman for the peacekeepers, confirmed that a mortar round was fired from inside Kosovo toward central Serbia on Thursday. The incident prompted a KFOR raid. Mortars, rocket launchers, hand grenades and small arms ammunition were found. Whitty did not specify whether any new arrests were made.
NATO-led peacekeepers have closed all roads leading to the Presevo Valley from Kosovo.
NATO deployed in Kosovo last June after the alliance's nearly three months of bombing of Yugoslavia forced the Serb troops out of the Yugoslav province. NATO's action was launched to end a crackdown of former president Slobodan Milosevic's forces against Kosovo's independence-minded Albanians.
Since Milosevic's ouster last month, the government of President Vojislav Kostunica has improved ties with the United States and its allies. Kostunica has demanded that NATO and the U.N. mission in Kosovo prevent any further ethnic Albanian attacks.