NATO keeps pressure on Belgrade

8220;We have requested our military authorities to remain prepared to carry out these air operations8230; and to maintain forces at appropriate readiness levels,8221; said NATO secretary general Javier Solana.

But the alliance did not set a new deadline for the airstrikes after the previous deadline of 1900 GMT expired.

Solana said the decision would maintain pressure on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at a time when his troops were moving to comply with the alliance8217;s demand that reinforcements sent to Kosovo during the eight-month crisis be withdrawn.

8220;We know that President Milosevic only moveswhen he is presented with the credible threat of force,8221; Solana said at a news conference after the two-and-a-half hour meeting.

The withdrawal of the Yugoslavian army and Serb security forces from Kosovo has probably delayed the threat of any attack on Serbia for now, but has left the United Nations wondering what to do next.

With US and UN sources confirming a substantial withdrawal of Yugoslav troops yesterday, all sides waited for the next step in the cat-and-mouse struggle over Kosovo.

8220;There is an effort to reconfigure the Yugoslav security forces in a way that we truly hope will reduce the violence substantially,8221; said special US mediator Christopher Hill.

8220;I think there are indications that they are pulling out,8221; added UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. Now the question is 8220;whether they have pulled out in sufficient numbers, and removed their equipment8221; in compliance with Security Council demands for a withdrawal from Kosovo.

Given the divisions in the Security Council 8212; where Russiaand China have opposed the use of force over Kosovo 8212; it is likely that Milosevic has done just enough to avoid punishment 8212; at least for now.

On Saturday, a fractious Security Council passed a resolution that paved the way for NATO troops to use force if there was no significant pullout from Kosovo by today. Even then, signals from Moscow and Beijing muted any language that explicitly authorising military action.

The resolution mentioned only that 8220;action may be needed to ensure the safety and security8221; of missions attempting to verify the Yugoslav withdrawal, and fell short of a clear threat to use force.

Nevertheless, even as US officials confirmed yesterday that some 90 per cent of Serb security forces were leaving their positions in Kosovo, NATO remained on alert, with some 400 warplanes still ready to strike at Yugoslavia if unrest in Kosovo continues.

Essentially, NATO has dropped the Tuesday deadline for airstrikes and left in place a more open-ended and ambiguous threat, which couldresult in strikes if Milosevic reneges on commitments to end the crackdown on separatists in Kosovo.

That murky policy is a reflection of the wariness of many Western states in dealing with the Yugoslav leader, who similarly made and broke peace commitments repeatedly during the 1991-95 wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The United States expressed wariness as US officials voiced guarded satisfaction with the pullback. 8220;As we see this substantial compliance8230; we need to send the message that Milosevic needs to stay in compliance.8221; said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart.

Yet the UN Security Council and Western powers are divided on what to do next in Kosovo. Washington and London are eager to keep the pressure on Belgrade, since both governments doubt that Kosovo will remain at peace once the threat of international action is lifted.

On the other hand, the difficulties in prodding Russia, China and, to a lesser extent, France over the case for military action shows the uphill challenge thatthe British and US governments face in justifying a strike, absent any further provocation from Belgrade.

In recent weeks, Milosevic has played a more moderate role, signing an agreement brokered by US diplomat Richard Holbrooke that would pave the way for a return to autonomy for Kosovo, 90 percent of whose population is ethnic Albanian. But UN officials warn that, following attacks on the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army over the past few months, some 300,000 Kosovars have been driven from their homes and remain in danger as winter weather looms over the province.

Annan said that, following his dispatch of an independent team to Kosovo, he now will decide 8220;whether I need to establish an international presence in Kosovo or if we can provide reports to the Council in some other way8221;.

Diplomats here believe that the next step forward could be for a small UN diplomatic mission to monitor whether the cessation of fighting in Kosovo really takes hold 8212; or whether this week8217;s pullback is only onemanoeuvre in a larger battle.