Belgrade's announcement of a partial withdrawal of Yugoslav troops and police from Kosovo was received with caution yesterday at NATO headquarters in Brussels. There was also a largely negative reaction in Washington, although President Clinton said he was "encouraged" by the proposal.
However, both the President and the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, made it clear that a withdrawal on its own would not suffice to stop NATO bombing. Asked after a White House event if he was encouraged by the troop withdrawal, Mr Clinton said: "I'm encouraged by any good word. But I think that the conditions that we set out are the minimal ones to make this work." He added that "any daylight, any little progress, it's better than it was the day before. We just have to bear down and keep working."
Ms Albright was more forthright. "If ever there was a definition of a half-measure, this is it," she said.
The US Defence Secretary, Mr William Cohen, said he had talked to his NATO allies and all agreed that the bombing should continue until President Milosevic met all the conditions set by the alliance. If this were done, there could be a bombing pause. NATO would not attack Yugoslav troops which were leaving Kosovo, he said.
"Such a withdrawal would have to be credible and final," the NATO spokesman, Mr Jamie Shea, said in Brussels. Some troops had indeed left Kosovo but NATO was not optimistic. The Belgrade statement said the Yugoslav army had "finished their action" against the Kosovo rebels and would withdraw some troops, reducing Serb forces in Kosovo to peace-time levels. The statement suggested that the Yugoslav army had delivered a crushing blow to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), but NATO said there was no way to verify the claim. Mr Shea claimed the Belgrade move could be "an indication that the air attacks are biting" but he insisted that all five of NATO's conditions would have to be seen to be carried out if Operation Allied Force was to be called off. The killing must stop; all Serbian forces should leave Kosovo, including the paramilitary and special police forces; an international security force should be allowed in; all refugees and displaced people returned; and work begin towards a political settlement, he said.
Despite efforts to repair relations with China following the destruction of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on Friday night, there was no let-up in the intensity of NATO air strikes yesterday. The alliance claimed successful strikes on the field forces, destroying Yugoslav tanks, military trucks, artillery and armoured vehicles. During his briefing in Brussels NATO General Jertz said that while the bad weather worked against the air campaign, it gave the Serbian troops the cover they needed to come out of hiding and step up their policy of terror in villages and towns throughout Kosovo. Sunday night had been no exception, resulting in more terrified people beginning their trek to the border.
NATO pilots reported that Serb activity seemed to be pulling away from the borders area where they had concentrated in recent days.