NATO Says KFOR Deployment Going According To Plan
By Ian Geoghegan
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO said Wednesday that both deployment of the KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo and the withdrawal of Serb troops were on schedule, with international peacekeepers poised to move into the center of the province.
``KFOR deployment is proceeding well and on schedule,'' NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said in Brussels.
``All brigades are now established in their initial locations throughout Zone I and are poised to move into Zone II.''
The military-technical agreement thrashed out between Belgrade, Russia and the Western allies setting the terms for a timed Serb withdrawal from Kosovo designated southern Kosovo as Zone I, while Zone II covers the central region, including the capital Pristina, and Zone III the northern province.
Shea said the British Fifth Airborne Brigade was in Lipljan, while the Fourth Armored Brigade had moved north to Podujevo and had control of a crossing point into Serbia, designated ``Gate 3'' in the military agreement.
The German 12th Armored Brigade was established in Prizren and heading north, while Italy's Garibaldi Brigade was at Pec and controlled the Morina border crossing into Albania.
United States units in Task Force Falcon were relieving French forces at Gnjilane, while the French Framework Brigade was moving into Zone II, he said.
A Greek company had arrived at Stimlje and would join up with the 501st Infantry Battalion later Wednesday.
Shea said Serb forces had essentially withdrawn from southern Kosovo, although there had been delays due to traffic congestion and a shortage of heavy armor transport.
``We judge they are working hard to leave and we are very relaxed about that,'' Shea said.
Earlier Wednesday, NATO extended a deadline for Serb forces to quit Zone I by 24 hours, saying it was confident the retreating army was making genuine efforts to leave.
He added that by Wednesday, the Serbs had pulled out all their aircraft and surface-to-air missile systems as well as over 200 tanks, personnel carriers and heavy artillery pieces.
``We have counted about 20,000 Serb ground forces, about half the overall total, that have withdrawn and the majority of these -- 12,000 -- have moved out of Zone I,'' Shea said.
Shea again called on the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians who fled Serb forces in Kosovo to stay in camps outside the province and not rush to return home.
More than 5,000 refugees had gone back into Kosovo and NATO ''cannot and will not'' try to stop them, he said, but he warned them of the dangers involved.
``There were 16 mine incidents involving returning refugees yesterday in which many were injured and two were killed. This underlines the very risky business of going back before KFOR gives the all clear.''
At the same time, Shea said close to 40,000 Kosovo Serbs had fled what they fear could be ethnic Albanian reprisals, crossing into Serbia and Montenegro.
Detail of KFOR troop deployment by early Wednesday:
Forward headquarters in southwest Pristina: 100
Britain: 6,267
Germany: 1,747
Italy: 1,811
Netherlands: 159
France: 1,402
United States: around 2,000
Canada: 277
Total troops available to KFOR commander Lieutenant-General Sir Mike Jackson in Kosovo and Macedonia: 24,600
Detail of Serb withdrawal by early Wednesday:
All aircraft
All surface-to-air missiles
20,000 ground troops, about half estimated total
37 tanks, about one fifth of total
115 Armored personnel carriers, about 40 percent of total
65 heavy artillery pieces, about 20 percent of total
Returning refugees
More than 5,000 ethnic Albanians back in southern Kosovo, of which, some 2,700 from Macedonia and 2,500 from Albania.
Kosovo Serbs fleeing
Approximately 38,000 have left Kosovo, including 14,000 who have gone to Montenegro, which along with Serbia makes up the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
(All figures from NATO)
