Primakov meets Milosevic

A top level Russian team, with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev accompanying Primakov, arrived in Belgrade after a sixth night of intensive NATO air strikes, focused on Serbian forces operating against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

The Yugoslav news agency Tanjug quoted Primakov as saying on arrival in Belgrade that he had come 8220;to shift the process to political territory8221; after six days of NATO air strikes.

He said he had been asked by President Boris Yeltsin to 8220;try to find an acceptable solution through political consultations8221;.

Meanwhile, NATO planes on Monday night struck at airports in Serbia and Montenegro, an aircraft factory in a Belgrade suburb and a military barrack in the Kosovo capital Pristina, local media reported.

Serbian radio reported that a plane, believed to be a British Harrier jump-set, was shot down near the Montenegrin capital Podgorica early on Tuesday day morning. There was no confirmation of the report.

The official news agency Tanjug said the military airport at Batajnica just outside Belgrade was hit by rockets fired from NATO warplanes. It said there was no immediate information on casualties or damage.

Other missiles hit an aircraft factory in the Belgrade suburb of Pancevo last night, the independent news agency Beta reported. However, officials were quoted as denying western reports that a major chemical factory in the area had also been hit.

Belgrade residents reported several big detonations from the direction of Pancevo around 12.30 am IST shortly after air sirens blared in the Yugoslav capital of two million people.

TOKYO: Japan has backed Russian Premier Yevgeny Primakov8217;s peace mission to Yugoslavia, promising it is ready to assist refugees fleeing a human rights disaster in Kosovo.

8220;It is important that Yugoslavia accepts a peace accord as soon as possible and comes to the negotiating table,8221; Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said in Tokyo on Tuesday. 8220;That is why Prime Minister Primakov has gone to Yugoslavia.8221;

8220;Since the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia go back a long way, it will be desirable if Russia exercises its influence and becomes a mediator to resolve the issue through negotiations,8221; Obuchi said.

8220;Japan expects8221; good news from the talks, the Japanese leader added. 8220;Japan wants to consider what it can do to help to complement other countries8217; efforts.8221;

Japan donated 9.6 million dollars in aid through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR to refugees in Kosovo in 1998 and had already extended 14.4 million dollars this year, the premier8217;s spokesman said.