G-8 PLAN: Key points of the G-8 peace plan include: An end to fighting in Kosovo. A withdrawal of all Yugoslav troops and Serb special police. The safe return of all refugees. The installation of a NATO-led peacekeeping force to protect returning refugees. The creation of an interim administration for the province. The eventual autonomy of Kosovo within Yugoslavia. A formula for the economic redevelopment and stabilization of the province. RELATED VIDEO One Kosovo family reacts to the news of a possible peace settlement in Yugoslavia (June 4) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's David Ensor looks at some of the potential sticking points in the Yugoslav peace proposal (June 3) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Ben Wedeman reports on reactions of refugees to the prospect of peace (June 3) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Kosovo, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K IMAGE GALLERY The many faces of refugee relief NATO off target  ALSO: NATO hopes peace deal deflates Milosevic's power Kosovo rebels wary of peace agreement Yugoslav OK of peace plan cautiously welcomed by Washington  THE DELUGE OF REFUGEES: Where are they going?  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Strike on Yugoslavia

June 4, 1999
Web posted at: 1:27 p.m. EDT (1727 GMT)

In this story: No comment from Milosevic Negotiators work on peacekeeping force NATO raids continue in Kosovo RELATED STORIES, SITES

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- NATO and Yugoslav military planners will meet Saturday to arrange details of a Yugoslav troop withdrawal from Kosovo, as hopes emerged that the air war could end as soon as Sunday.

"Even though it took 72 days to get to this point, we -- within 72 hours -- are determined to seize the momentum of peace," NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said Friday.

British Lt. Gen. Michael Jackson, the commander of 15,000 allied troops now in Macedonia, will meet officers of the Yugoslav general staff Saturday to establish guidelines for the withdrawal of Yugoslav and Serb forces.

The alliance said its commanders will tell their Yugoslav counterparts when to start the troop withdrawal, once details have been worked out. Jackson's troops, based in the Macedonian capital Skopje, are on 24 hours' notice in preparation to move.

"NATO can now turn its attention away from winning the conflict in the air to winning the peace on the ground," Shea said.

But he cautioned: "This is not the time for our hopes to run ahead of objective reality." He said Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic "finds it much easier to make a promise than to keep a promise."

Asked if he expected the Kosovo Liberation Army to disarm, as called for in the agreement, Shea said that KLA leaders had indicated they would. NATO, said Shea, intends to hold them to their agreement.

No comment from Milosevic

In Belgrade, meanwhile, hopes for peace were tempered by the wail of air raid sirens as NATO's bombardment continued.

Headlines in Yugoslav newspapers Friday trumpeted the peace agreement, although Milosevic has made no public comment on the deal.

The news that he has accepted the peace plan drawn up by the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized nations has left Belgrade in a kind of limbo between a war that is not yet over and peace that has not yet begun.

The 10-week war has devastated Yugoslavia, leaving as many as 1 million people unemployed and much of its capital without electricity or running water.

The prospect of an end to the war has left most Belgrade residents "delighted and very hopeful," former Deputy Premier Vuk Draskovic said. ( 441 K/42 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Draskovic, who was fired by Milosevic after he criticized the way Yugoslavia was handling the war, said he believes a withdrawal from Kosovo can begin "within one day, two days, not longer."

Milosevic accepted the peace plan during talks with Russian special envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin and Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, the European Union's envoy, on Thursday.

The plan calls for an end to military action and violence in Kosovo; the withdrawal from Kosovo of Yugoslav troops, Serb police and paramilitaries; the presence of an international peacekeeping force; the safe return of all refugees and displaced people; and the establishment of a political framework for Kosovo autonomy based on an agreement reached early this year in Rambouillet, France.

But Ahtisaari warned the peace process was far from complete.

"Bear with me if I'm not jumping here with enthusiasm, because there's a lot of hard work that needs to be done," he said.

Negotiators work on peacekeeping force

Ahtisaari and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott met in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, on Friday to continue working out details of the NATO-backed peacekeeping force. Fellow mediator Chernomyrdin did not attend, but kept in contact by telephone.

Chernomyrdin aide Valentin Sergeyev said military staff headed for Belgrade would include specialists who will deal with details of withdrawing Serb forces from Kosovo and the return of refugees. He said the group will not include high- ranking military officials.

Britain announced Friday morning that it would send another 4,000 soldiers to the Balkans as part of the Yugoslavia peace deal, in addition to more than 15,000 already in Macedonia.

The plan does not have a date for Serb troop withdrawals from Kosovo

Some of those troops would leave in less than 24 hours, Junior Foreign Office Minister Tony Lloyd said. NATO expects to have as many as 50,000 troops in Kosovo as a peacekeeping force once the Yugoslav army leaves.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, speaking at a European Union summit in Cologne, Germany, said ministers from the G-8 countries will meet Sunday to draw up a U.N. Security Council resolution on Kosovo. U.S. President Bill Clinton said he was "anxious to end the bombing" if NATO's objectives are met.

A detachment of about 2,200 U.S. Marines were en route to Greece for possible use in Kosovo; the U.S. Army already has about 5,000 soldiers in Albania.

Russian officials said they could contribute as many as 5,000 troops to the peacekeeping force as well.

The peacekeepers will serve under a U.N. mandate and will have to ensure the safe return of more than 1.5 million Kosovars to their homes. About two-thirds of those -- mostly ethnic Albanians who dominated the province before the war - - fled to neighboring countries during the conflict.

"We want them to have the benefit of summer months to help to rebuild their homes and lives," Shea said. "But obviously, we want them not to go back until there is a secure presence, to ensure that the refugee return can be done in an organized way."

NATO raids continue in Kosovo

U.S. and NATO officials remained wary Friday, saying Yugoslavia will have to live up to its promises before NATO stops its airstrikes. But a senior NATO official said NATO could halt its bombing of Yugoslavia as soon as Yugoslav troops begin pulling out of Kosovo.

"A start to the withdrawal should be sufficient," NATO Deputy Secretary-General Klaus Kleiber told German television Friday. "Radar pictures and verification on the ground may be necessary."

Despite continued warnings, the skies over Belgrade remained quiet as NATO focused its raids on the Yugoslav army in Kosovo and military facilities across Serbia, the Yugoslav federation's dominant republic.

Allied aircraft struck 21 artillery pieces, 30 mortar positions, four tanks, 10 armored personnel carriers, eight anti-aircraft artillery pieces and other military vehicles in Kosovo.

Other targets included ammunition storage sites at Novi Pazar, Boljevac and Kursumlija; a petroleum storage site at Sombor; a railway petroleum loading facility at Leskovac; a Serb special police headquarters at Kula Milicija; an airfield at Ponikve; a training area at Cuprija; an AM radio broadcast station at Srbobran; and TV/FM broadcast stations at Pirot and Kapaonik.

Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty and Correspondents Walter Rodgers and Matthew Chance contributed to this report.

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