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Europe's top diplomats hailed the beginning of a new era for Kosovo  MILITARY PLAN: RELATED VIDEO Forensic pathologists are now looking at evidence of possible war crimes in Kosovo. CNN's Christiane Amanpour shows the process. (June 23) (Warning: Images may be disturbing to some viewers) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Jim Clancy reports on opposition efforts in Belgrade. (June 22) Windows Media 28K 80K Use the arrow buttons below to select the latest streams on the Kosovo situation.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K  ALSO: U.S. Marines come under fire in Kosovo; gunman killed U.S. warplanes coming home Support for Milosevic down, but Serbs see few alternatives FBI team in Kosovo begins war crime investigation  MESSAGE BOARD: Rebuilding Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Focus on Kosovo

June 23, 1999
Web posted at: 3:50 p.m. EDT (1950 GMT)

In this story: Albanians say French biased against them Lack of shelter main concern Peacekeeping mission grows RELATED STORIES, SITES

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- The foreign ministers of Britain, France, Italy and Germany came to Kosovo on Wednesday to urge cooperation among the province's peoples as it rebuilds after a year of bitter fighting.

It was, Britain's Robin Cook said, "the first week of freedom for Kosovo."

"We are here in Pristina to demonstrate our unity of purpose and the strong commitment of Europe to build, in the peace we have established in Kosovo, a democratic and free society open to all," Cook said at a news conference in Kosovo's provincial capital.

Cook was joined by France's Hubert Vedrine, Germany's Joschka Fischer and Italy's Lamberto Dini. The four fanned out over Kosovo to view firsthand the progress of NATO's peacekeeping mission and the investigation of alleged war crimes in the province.

In the village of Velika Krusa earlier in the day, Cook described what he called "the results of (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic's orders" to systematically rid the province of ethnic Albanians.

"I have seen two rooms -- tiny rooms -- into which 30 people were herded and then were shot deliberately, callously and at close range through the windows and doors," he said. "It is impossible not to share the terror and the horror they felt in those last closing minutes. The positions of the bodies show that many of them tried to crawl into corners to evade the bullets, but in vain."

Cook said he felt "rising indignation against the people who had ordered these atrocities."

British officials said they believe the massacre at Velika Krusa occurred in late March, just after NATO began its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. They said eyewitness accounts suggest 105 men and boys were shot and their bodies burned in the village.

The killings were cited in documents indicting Milosevic, issued by the international war crimes tribunal investigating alleged atrocities in Yugoslavia.

Because of the indictment, the Swiss government ordered the assets of Milosevic and four others frozen at the tribunal's request.

Albanians say French biased against them

While in Kosovo, the European foreign ministers tried to allay fears of bias in the NATO peacekeeping mission, pledging that KFOR would handle Kosovo's ethnic populations evenhandedly.

Albanians have charged that the French have shown a pro-Serb bias, an allegation denied by Vedrine, who said the French sector in Kosovo is a difficult one to police.

Fischer leaves the site of the Velika Krusa massacre

"It is difficult because of where it is located, and I can tell you that French forces in that area will apply the same rules as the rest of KFOR acts in the rest of Kosovo," he said.

In other sectors, Serbs fear NATO forces won't protect them from Albanian retaliation.

Cook said that Europe was ready to work to rebuild Kosovo, and asked Kosovo to work with Europe to achieve that purpose.

Estimates for the rebuilding effort passed the $3 billion mark as thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees retraced their steps from muddy, stark refugee camps to the uncertain future of what is left of their homes in the Serbian province.

Since NATO troops entered the Yugoslav province on June 12, more than 200,000 Kosovars have begun the trip home, said Paula Ghedini of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.

Ghedini said the agency was bringing in tents and plastic to help shelter the refugees, many of whom are returning to burned-out houses and empty villages.

"Fortunately, although it's very cold the last couple of days, it is summer. We don't have to worry so much about winterization," she said. "We do understand that in the area of Pec and Djakovica, shelter considerations are the priority right now."

Lack of shelter is not the only concern -- retreating Serbs and their Kosovo Liberation Army rivals have left behind land mines, and unexploded NATO bombs also litter the landscape.

But despite international pleas asking them not to return to Kosovo yet -- including a direct message from U.S. President Bill Clinton Tuesday at Macedonia's Stenkovec refugee camp -- many refugees would prefer to bear hard conditions at home.

"My father is old and ill and he can't stay in the camp any more," said Mustapha Ibrahim, waiting at Stenkovec to return home. "Last night, the wind blew down a lot of tents."

"People understood Clinton's message but they are exhausted and can't stand the rain any more -- it goes into the tents," Ibrahim said. "Only families that don't have money to pay for the bus ride will stay."

Ghedini said that 12,500 refugees went from Macedonia to Kosovo Tuesday, along with 13,100 from Albania and 1,700 from Montenegro, bringing the total number of returnees to 209,000 since NATO troops began deploying in the province.

Peacekeeping mission grows

NATO's KFOR troops now number about 20,000, NATO spokesman Maj. Jan Joosten said Wednesday, less than half of the 55,000 planned. And Allied Supreme Commander Gen. Wesley Clark said Tuesday that the region may need more than that if it hopes to secure the safety of returning refugees -- both Albanians and Serbs, who have fled by the thousands as Yugoslav troops pulled out.

Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said Wednesday that Russian troops will be ready to join NATO forces on Monday, the Interfax news agency said. The presence of those troops is expected to help calm Serb fears of retaliations by ethnic Albanians.

Joosten could not confirm Sergeyev's timetable for Russian deployment, saying final arrangements should be made this week.

Russia plans to send 3,600 troops into Kosovo, the result of an agreement hammered out with U.S. officials after Yugoslavia agreed to withdraw. The Russians will serve in the German, French and American sectors.

Two hundred Russian soldiers are already in Kosovo -- they raced across the province ahead of the NATO forces on June 12 to occupy the Pristina airport, catching NATO by surprise. The agreement with Russia calls for a joint operation at the airport, in the British sector.

Some ethnic Albanians are concerned about the arrival of Russian peacekeepers, fearing they will perpetuate the policies of their traditional Serb allies. The Pentagon reported Tuesday that some Russian soldiers had served as mercenaries in Serb paramilitary groups as they carried out what Western leaders called a systematic operation of expulsions, attacks and massacres.

But Joosten said NATO had a "good relationship" with the Russians.

"There is no need to be afraid of Russian participation in Kosovo," he said.

In addition to the NATO and Russian troops, the United Nations is sending 200 civilian police advisers from its mission in Bosnia to help set up a new police force. That force is expected to eventually reach 3,000 officers, Joosten said.

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