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June 28, 1999
Web posted at: 9:54 p.m. EDT (0154 GMT)

In this story: Orthodox Church leaders write Clinton, Annan First 'sanctioned' refugees return to Kosovo Aid for Serb refugees Russians, Poles arrive for peacekeeping efforts RELATED STORIES, SITES

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia -- As a demilitarization deadline loomed late Monday, Kosovo Albanian rebels turned in their weapons to NATO-guarded depots. But as revenge attacks continued, Serbian Orthodox Church leaders called on international peacekeepers to protect Serb civilians.

Uniformed Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers set down their weapons and changed into civilian clothes at sites across Kosovo on Monday. Under an agreement signed last week with NATO, KLA fighters were to deposit their arms in NATO storage sites by midnight Monday (2200 GMT).

KLA forces are also to vacate their military positions and will be allowed to carry weapons only in designated assembly areas.

"This is not easy for us to surrender the weapons which defend Kosovo people," said a KLA fighter who helped bring in a store of weapons. "But this is in the name of peace."

NATO's supreme commander in Europe, Gen. Wesley Clark, said KLA commanders were cooperating well. But the test, he said, would be whether individual soldiers honor the handover or pursue their own vendettas.

"There is terrible anger here, terrible things have been done to Kosovar Albanians," Clark told the British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Ethnic violence flared in the Kosovo provincial capital of Pristina on Monday. Houses were set on fire in an apparent act of retaliation by ethnic Albanians, NATO officials said. At least one house reportedly belonged to a gypsy family. Many ethnic Albanians have accused gypsies of collaborating with Serbs.

A series of explosions shook a neighborhood nearby, but Kosovo implementation force (KFOR) peacekeepers said one blast was from a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance at an abandoned Yugoslav army barracks. KFOR troops were investigating what caused a second, nearly simultaneous explosion in the city.

In an effort to curb burnings and other lawlessness, German peacekeepers imposed a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on Kosovo's second-largest city, Prizren. German troops were on the streets late Monday to enforce the curfew, and most citizens appeared to be abiding by it.

Orthodox Church leaders write Clinton, Annan

Concerned by the continuing violence, Serbian Orthodox Church clerics wrote a letter to U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, urging peacekeepers to stop attacks against Kosovo Serbs.

Otherwise, they warned, "Kosovo might soon become an ethnically pure territory unless the terror against Serb population is not stopped immediately."

"It is hard to understand how it is possible that in spite of the presence of at least 20,000 members of KFOR, the worst crimes ever are taking place in Kosovo," the letter said.

The document was signed by Patriarch Pavle, Metropolitan Artemije and Kosovo Serb leader Momcilo Trajkovic.

Artemije Radosavljevic, a top bishop in the church, acknowledged Monday that ethnic Albanians had suffered a "pogrom" at Serb hands. But he contended the guilty had already fled Kosovo.

"We cannot allow uncontrolled and enraged crowds to exact justice," he said.

First 'sanctioned' refugees return to Kosovo

Seven busloads of ethnic Albanian refugees arrived in Kosovo's capital Monday, the first U.N.-organized repatriation since NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia ended June 12.

More than 400,000 Kosovars have returned on their own, despite warnings that the province was littered with land mines, booby traps and unexploded NATO bombs.

"This is not a big movement of refugees," U.N. Special Representative for Refugees Dennis McNamara said, referring to the seven busloads. "We're starting to organize now in a much more systematic way, bringing back people who need our assistance, who are maybe afraid to come back on their own, who can't afford to pay to come on their own, and we're taking them to the areas where KFOR has agreed there's a secure environment."

Representatives of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR escorted about 320 refugees back to their homes in and around Pristina on Monday.

"I am very happy we came back to free Kosovo," said 20-year-old Luljeta Sherifi.

UNHCR estimated that 860,000 Kosovars fled from their homes before and during NATO's 11-week bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. NATO accused Yugoslavia of trying to eliminate the ethnic Albanian majority from the Serbian province.

Aid for Serb refugees

The refugees' return has complicated NATO's peacekeeping mission. Many ethnic Albanians, forced from their homes by Yugoslav forces, have returned to seek revenge on their Serb neighbors.

Paula Ghedini, the UNHCR representative in the area, said that the organization was doing all it could to allay the fears of other ethnic groups

"We have visited most of the 180 collective centers and spoken with the Krajina Serb population in these areas as well as visited most of the pockets of ethnic Serbs and ethnic Romany gypsies throughout the province of Kosovo," she said. "Right now that is our primary protection mandate."

Russians, Poles arrive for peacekeeping efforts

Meanwhile, 300 Russian peacekeepers arrived in Kosovo on Monday, reinforcing the Russian troops already there.

The paratroopers flew in three Ilyushin 76 transport planes, which left on a staggered scheduled from Moscow.

The Pristina airport is scheduled to be closed for four days after Monday's arrival to allow repairs and technical work to be done.

Russian troops from Bosnia occupied the airport before the arrival of KFOR troops. Only after extensive talks in Helsinki between the United States and Russia was an agreement reached incorporating Russian troops into the peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

Polish troops were on the way to the Serb province Monday to join the NATO forces. The Poles crossed into Bulgaria on Monday afternoon en route to Kosovo.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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