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Serbian TV shows images of damaged food-processing plant in Valjevo RELATED VIDEO Yugoslavia's president makes his first public appearance since NATO attacks began. CNN's Brent Sadler is in Belgrade. (April 14) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Satinder Bindra reports on the tension in villages along the Yugolsavia-Albanian border (April 14) Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Yugoslavia, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K IMAGE GALLERY: The Kosovo refugees Protesting the NATO strikes Devastation of Kosovo capital The Serbs and Kosovo  ALSO More U.S. warplanes head to Europe  MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Kosovo  MAPS Gen. Wesley Clark describes NATO air campaign

April 14, 1999
Web posted at: 12:07 p.m. EDT (1607 GMT)

In this story: Annan possible mediator Milosevic says unarmed presence acceptable Serbs report food rationing Britain: Arkan invading Kosovo More rapes reported RELATED STORIES, SITES

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO officials said Wednesday they were marshaling their forces for "the end game" in their military campaign against Yugoslavia.

Meanwhile, European leaders and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan held a summit to discuss diplomatic strategies to resolve the conflict over the southern Serbian province of Kosovo.

"We will have more or less 1,000 aircraft on stream very soon -- able to maintain a continuous operation to tighten the screw on Serb forces," NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said.

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic "is becoming weaker as NATO is becoming stronger," Shea said. "It is no longer a question of if we will win, but simply when."

Shea welcomed a German peace plan as "useful" but reiterated that Yugoslavia must adhere to the alliance's five key demands, including the withdrawal of troops from Kosovo.

"It's not an official position yet of any government or NATO yet," Shea said of the German initiative. "It's a very useful and necessary effort to begin reflection on how we are going to handle the diplomacy of the end game."

Bonn's six-point initiative, which builds on a peace plan proposed by Annan, calls for a 24-hour halt to NATO airstrikes to give Yugoslavia a chance to start withdrawing its forces from Kosovo.

The United States reacted cautiously to the German proposal. While House spokesman Joe Lockhart said the plan was largely consistent with NATO principles for ending the airstrikes. But he reiterated that the United States was "looking for agreement on all points" before it would consider halting the air campaign.

Annan possible mediator

Both NATO and Russia, which has sharply criticized the bombings, have indicated they view Annan as a possible mediator. Belgrade described Annan's efforts as the "last chance" to peacefully settle the NATO-Yugoslavia standoff.

British Defense Secretary George Robertson told CNN that EU partners, most of whom also belong to NATO, planned to show they were still firmly committed to the NATO action.

"What will come out of today's summit will be the united resolve of European countries and all the NATO countries that (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic is going to be defeated," Robertson said.

The decision by Britain and the United States in recent days to commit more heavy weaponry and troops to the Balkans underlined "the rock solid unity of NATO," he said.

Shea said NATO's latest raids struck two more bridges and more military targets, including control facilities, fuel installations and lines of communications.

While Wednesday's raids were relatively light because of poor weather, Shea said, "We are neutralizing the weather factor" so that the bombings can continue "in thickest clouds and heaviest rain."

NATO also planned to launch Operation Allied Harbor on Wednesday, which aims to use NATO troops to help stabilize the refugee situation in Albania. An estimated 300,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo have poured into Albania during the past three weeks.

Lukashenko, left, and Milosevic talk to reporters in Belgrade

Milosevic says unarmed presence acceptable

Milosevic said Wednesday that Yugoslavia was ready to accept international peacekeepers in Kosovo after a political solution was found, but said they would have to be unarmed and none could come from NATO countries.

He called the NATO campaign "a conspiracy of lies" and said the only way to end the conflict was through negotiations.

NATO officials say that Yugoslavia must agree to an armed NATO peacekeeping force before it will halt the bombing campaign.

Milosevic spoke during a Belgrade news conference after he met with visiting Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko for several hours.

The meeting was an apparent step toward cementing Milosevic's wish to join an alliance with fellow Orthodox Slav nation Belarus and its much larger neighbor Russia.

Serbs report food rationing

Serbian television on Wednesday reported NATO attacks on the Bistrica hydroelectric plant near the southern Serb town of Nova Varos, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Belgrade. A nearby bridge on a main railroad line that runs from Belgrade to the Montenegrin port of Bar was lightly damaged, the report said.

Serbian TV said the largest factory in the town of Valjevo, about 112 kilometers (70 miles) southwest of Belgrade, was hit and at least two people were hurt. Four explosions were reported in the central Serb town of Pozega.

Serb authorities said the hard-hit south was preparing for the first food rationing since the airstrikes began on March 24.

Britain: Arkan invading Kosovo

British officials said Wednesday that Arkan, one of Serbia's most notorious paramilitary leaders, was scouting prisons for volunteers to join his unit in Kosovo.

"This brutal thug is releasing hardened criminals from Serb jails to terrorize the people of Kosovo," Robertson said.

Robertson said Arkan, whose real name is Zeljko Raznjotovic, was wanted by the International War Crimes Tribunal for the alleged massacre of 250 men taken from the hospital of the Croatian town of Vukovar in 1991. Full details of the indictment had been secret.

Robertson also said Gen. Ratko Mladic, an indicted war criminal and former commander of the Bosnian Serb army during the war in Bosnia, was now commanding a "gang of paramilitaries" in Kosovo.

More rapes reported

Increasing reports of systematic, mass rapes are coming out of Djakovica in southwestern Kosovo, said Clare Short, Britain's secretary of state for international development.

"Sometimes the rapes are performed in front of children, fathers and brothers," she said.

More than 800,000 ethnic Albanians are now believed displaced within Kosovo, Short said.

"The situation is grim," she added. "I fear it will get worse. There is no humanitarian solution without military success. We cannot bring relief without reversing Serb aggression and this can only be done with the military."