June 10 1999. Copyright 1999. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

KOSOVO: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

LONDON, June 10, Graphic News: THE START of YugoslaviaÕs withdrawal of forces from Kosovo, and the suspension of NATO bombing, are the first of a number of steps towards the end of the Balkan conflict. Yugoslavia now has 11 days to withdraw all police, paramilitary and military forces Ð some 50,000 troops Ð and remove land mines and booby traps.
Suspension of the bombing paves the way for a U.N. Security Council resolution, already agreed between the West and Russia, to be put to a formal vote in New York. The resolution will enable NATO to deploy peacekeeping troops in Kosovo to create the conditions that will allow as many as one million Kosovo Albanian refugees to return to their homes.
A force of 50,000 troops, known as KFOR, will occupy Kosovo. A contingent from BritainÕs 8,300 troops in Macedonia will be the first entering through the Kacanik Pass. The first U.S. peacekeepers are expected to follow shortly after. The long-term U.S. contingent, dubbed Task Force Falcon, will be made up of 7,000 soldiers stationed at U.S. bases in Germany. It will replace Marine and Army troops sent in to secure the province in the first days and weeks of peace.
The U.S., Britain, France, Germany and Italy Ð the ÒquintÓ as they call themselves Ð will occupy five sectors within the province to ensure the safe return of refugees. The quint has rejected the idea of a Russian sector which is not under direct NATO command, but this is expected to emerge by default.
The U.N. War Crimes Tribunal is preparing to send investigators into Kosovo to gather evidence of war crimes, including widespread murder and rape.
It is only then that the complicated process of repatriating ethnic Albanian refugees will begin. Some 860,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, have fled Kosovo since NATOÕs air attacks began on March 24.
/ENDSÊ