Ethnic Albanian rebels in Kosovo on Monday agreed to a ceasefire in the buffer zone along the province’s border, a move which will pave way for Yugoslav troops to enter the area to help maintain law and order, reports reaching here said.
Lieutenant-General Carlo Cabigiosu, commander of the NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo, said, "The final agreement has been reached." He added that in the very near future, Yugoslav forces would be deployed in the southernmost sector of the borders between Yugoslavia and Macedonia.
The agreement of Kosovo Albanians came after the western military alliance said it had reached agreement with Yugoslav authorities to allow their troops to return to the area.
The 5-kilometer-wide buffer zone was established between Kosovo and the rest of Yugoslavia in June 1999 when NATO troops entered Kosovo following a 78-day air campaign against Yugoslavia.
Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, whose ultimate aim is to turn the province into an independent country, have recently established their control over the buffer zone and caused security problems both in Macedonia and southern Serbia, the principal republic of Yugoslavia.
(Xinhua 03/12/2001)
