KOSOVO: YUGOSLAV ARMY/CIVILIANS MOVING OUT OF PROVINCE

(11 Jun 1999) English/Nat

Serb civilians living in Kosovo are fleeing the province hours before the expected arrival of the U-N backed peacekeeping force.

Senior British military officials say NATO commander Lieutenant General Mike Jackson plans to be in the Kosovan capital of Pristina by 5 p-m (1600 GMT) on Saturday.

In Pristina the change is being felt and heard as the Yugoslav air force recalled all its jets from the Kosovan capital.

NATO troops on the Macedonia border with Kosovo watched as the Yugoslav army began withdrawing from the Jankovic area close to the border with Macedonia.

With the imminent arrival of international troops and the return of ethnic-Albanian refugees, Serb civilians in Kosovo are beginning to panic.

The road between Pristina and Kosovska Mitrovica in the Serbian province was congested with both military and civilian vehicles as the exodus began.

Serb civilians living in Pristina rushed to join the Yugoslav army convoy in any vehicle available to them - many travelling, like the ethnic Albanians in the recent past, on tractors and carts.

At a news conference in Kosovo's capital Pristina the somewhat subdued looking Yugoslav spokesman for Foreign Ministry, Nebojsa Vujovic and Yugoslav Minister without portfolio Goran Madic officially recognised the changes in Kosovo since the withdrawal had been signed.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"You have been able to see with your own eyes the change in the environment in Serbian Province as well as you have been able to see it throughout Serbia and the capital Belgrade."
SUPERCAPTION: Nebojsa Vujovic, spokesman for Foreign Ministry

A little later Yugoslav jets flew over Pristina as part of the withdrawal agreement.

Near the Macedonian border some 200-300 Serb troops along with Serb civilians were seen leaving the Jankovic area of the Serbian province.

The Serbs were travelling on foot, making their way along a mountainous road.

Infantry and vehicles could also be seen leaving their positions on the Kosovar side of the border.

Italian troops serving with K-FOR watched their departure from the nearby Macedonian border.

Yugoslav troops began their pullback from Kosovo on Thursday, prompting NATO to suspend its air campaign, which started on March 24.

The U-N Security Council then adopted a resolution authorising a heavily armed security force to enter Kosovo to restore peace and begin reconstruction.

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