Despite pleas from international officials to wait until land mines have been removed, ethnic Albanian refugees continue to return to Kosovo  MILITARY PLAN: RELATED VIDEO A tense incident at a bridge in Kosovo illustrates the problems facing returning refugees, Serbs and the peacekeepers protecting them both. CNN's Mike Boettcher was there. (June 21) Windows Media 28K 80K Helping rebuild Kosovo will carry a hefty price tag but it's worth it, President Clinton says. CNN's John King has the report. (June 21) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Jim Clancy goes to a village in Kosovo where as many as 300 men and boys are missing and presumed dead. (June 21) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Christiane Amanpour tours a massacre site listed in the International War Crimes Tribunal indictment of Slobodan Milosevic. (June 21) (Warning: Contains images that some may find disturbing.) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Richard Blystone reports on KLA's promise to surrender its weapons. (June 21) 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: First group of U.S. warplanes, crew heading home Kosovo refugees find haven at Georgia retreat  MESSAGE BOARD: Rebuilding Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Focus on Kosovo

June 21, 1999
Web posted at: 2:07 p.m. EDT (1807 GMT)

In this story: Demilitarizing the KLA Gurkhas killed clearing ammunition RELATED STORIES, SITES

BONN, Germany (CNN) -- World leaders looked toward the future of the Balkans Monday as Yugoslavia's Kosovo province began its adjustment to peace.

In Kosovo, an explosion from a land mine or booby trap killed two British soldiers Monday, causing the first NATO casualties since the peacekeepers moved into the province June 12.

In quick succession on Sunday, Yugoslav troops completed their withdrawal from the province and NATO declared its bombing campaign officially over. Early Monday, the pro- independence Kosovo Liberation Army signed a demilitarization agreement.

And in Belgrade, Yugoslav media reported that President Slobodan Milosevic's government had asked the country's parliament to convene in order to lift the state of war in effect since the March 24 start of NATO airstrikes.

"What we are witnessing is not an end but a new beginning," said British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, in Luxembourg for a meeting of European foreign ministers. "Today at this meeting we are discussing ... how the European Union can fulfill its lead role for the reconstruction of Kosovo."

The same issue was on the table in Bonn, Germany, where EU leaders and U.S. President Bill Clinton met a day after the close of the Group of Eight summit in Cologne.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose country holds the EU's chairmanship, announced again his plan to convene a meeting in Sarajevo to discuss Kosovo recovery plans. The meeting, most likely in July, will include not only NATO and its allies, but all the Balkan nations affected by the Kosovo conflict.

"We want to send a clear signal that the region can very much rely on the fact that we are not just talking about providing assistance, but that we really want to help, and will help," Schroeder said.

But Schroeder and Clinton were clear that any aid provided to Yugoslavia would only benefit the country's citizens, and not help Milosevic rebuild Yugoslavia's shattered economy and infrastructure.

"It is important that if the Serbs want to keep Mr. Milosevic, that at least they not freeze to death this winter, and that their hospitals not be forced to close," Clinton said Monday. "In terms of rebuilding bridges so people can go to work, I don't buy that. That's part of economic reconstruction and I don't think we should help. Not a bit, not a penny."

The leaders came to no conclusions about the cost of the Balkans aid, but said the Sarajevo meeting would begin the process of determining that.

"It will probably cost a lot more than people think it will, but it will be cheaper than more war," Clinton said.

Outside Pristina, the Kosovo capital, KLA political chief Hashim Thaci signed the demilitarization agreement early Monday, essentially eliminating the rebels as a fighting force.

"KLA has been fighting to achieve what we have achieved today," said Thaci. "KLA hasn't won the war only. Democratic world has won this war."

NATO's KFOR commander, Lt. Gen. Michael Jackson, said the KLA agreed to a cease-fire. The KLA also promised not to plant mines and not to set up checkpoints or barriers. Jackson said the rebels also agreed to take off their uniforms and to respect the authority of peacekeeping forces in Kosovo.

Under the agreement, effective immediately, rebels must give up heavy weapons and stop carrying guns in much of Kosovo. Within the next 30 days, they must place in storage anything larger than a pistol or hunting rifle. Total demilitarization must be completed within 90 days.

"Today marks a turning point in KFOR's mission," said Jackson. "I emphasize once again we are here to establish a climate of peace and security for all the people of Kosovo. I hope that all -- and I stress that word all -- who have left in fear will return."

Thousands of Serbs, fearing reprisals from the KLA and returning Albanian refugees, fled Kosovo as Yugoslav troops pulled out.

Under the terms of the agreement, Thaci pledged the KLA would not seek revenge for the Yugoslav troops' so-called ethnic cleansing campaign. But U.S. officials said privately they could not rule out some dissension among more militant KLA factions.

Clinton and other world leaders have called on returning ethnic Albanian refugees to refrain from retaliating against their Serb neighbors.

The flood of Serbs out of Kosovo has spurred alarm on the part of refugee agencies. Judith Kumin, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said the situation in Serbia was "a very grim one," with high unemployment, low food stocks and virtually no accommodations.

"It was clear to our field teams that at least 50,000 people had arrived in or transited through the areas of central Serbia," she said.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians were returning to the homes they abandoned despite pleas from international officials to wait until mines and booby traps have been removed.

Mines are a very real problem in Kosovo -- a land mine or booby trap claimed the lives of two British soldiers Monday, NATO's first casualties since the peacekeepers entered Kosovo just over a week ago. The soldiers, both Nepalese Gurkhas, among the toughest in the British army, were killed while clearing ammunition from a school near the village of Negrovce, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Pristina. The blast also killed two civilians and injured another. But the refugees continued to stream back into the province.

"The picture in the municipality of Kukes, in northern Albania, has changed dramatically in just a week. Seven days ago there were around 112,000 refugees in Kukes," said Kumin. "Today there are fewer than 35,000, with less than 5,000 left in camps."

Kumin said most of the refugees hailed from the southwestern part of Kosovo, with fewer people returning to other parts which were badly damaged during the conflict.

Some 135,000 Albanians have come back to Kosovo since the war ended, and thousands more have come out of hiding within the province.

As the refugees returned, the KLA's Thaci voiced concern about a number of prominent Albanian intellectuals and political activists believed to be prisoners of the Yugoslavs.

"There are many Albanian political prisoners in Serbia ... who have been kidnapped and we know nothing about their fate," Thaci said.

Correspondents Richard Blystone, John King and Wolf Blitzer contributed to this report.

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