Germany calls for 1 day halt of airstrikes

NATO called the German plan a "food-for-thought paper," but did not immediately endorse it. Spokesperson Jamie Shea said it was a "very useful and necessary contribution" to the debate on how to get Milosevic to back down.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, current president of the 15-nation European Union, convened a special EU summit yesterday evening to discuss the peace plan and to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan is scheduled to speak at the University of Michigan commencement on May 1.

AP PHOTO German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder addresses a special meeting of the European Union yesterday in Brussells, Belgium.

Alliance officials feel the air campaign has begun to stagger Milosevic and are hesitant to ease up and give him a chance to recuperate.

In Washington, State Department spokesperson James Rubin called the German proposals constructive and said they were in line with the conditions that NATO has laid down. He described them as a beginning of a discussion of how the conditions would be implemented.

Under the German plan, presented in Bonn, NATO would suspend its airstrikes on Yugoslavia for 24 hours to give Milosevic time to begin moving his troops out of the province, and permanently suspend the attacks once the pullout is complete.

The proposals call for a U.N. military force to move in as Yugoslav army and special police forces withdraw. That would be followed by a return of the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees who have fled to Albania and Macedonia and an interim U.N. administration of Kosovo.

"We need to allow for the return of refugees, to allow for the deployment of international troops to protect the refugees and the population of Kosovo," said Schroeder.

Annan met with NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana before going to the EU. No details of their discussions were released, but Shea said Solana told Annan that the allies "are united and determined to push this through to its logical conclusion."

The U.N. chief called on diplomats to intensify efforts to find a political solution, but acknowledged after a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair that "it's not going to be easy."

Annan denied reports he plans to travel to Belgrade to discuss the German plan.

In a gesture to Russia, the German plan does not insist on a NATO peacekeeping force, rather it suggests a "robust" contingent of international troops under a single commander.

Russia was part of the six-nation Contact Group - along with the United States, France, Britain, Germany and Italy - that negotiated a peace agreement for Kosovo in Rambouillet, France, in February. That agreement was signed by the Kosovo Albanians, but rejected by the Serbs.

Russia, nonetheless, has strongly opposed the NATO air operation and has severed its relations with the alliance.

"We welcome the Russian effort in the current crisis to try to bring a positive influence to bear on the government in Belgrade," Schroeder said. "I am firmly convinced that Russia will act as a stabilizing factor in Europe."

Schroeder told the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, France, earlier yesterday that "the terrible developments in Kosovo are not solely a domestic policy issue for Yugoslavia."

"Europe's voice has to remain resolute" and help create a situation in Kosovo where refugees can safely return to their homes, he said. Eleven of the EU's 15 members are also part of NATO.

Martin Erdmann, a spokesperson for German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said the proposal was "coordinated" with Germany's allies in intense diplomacy in recent days.

The main points of the plan include:

n Setting a timetable for the withdrawal of Serb military, police and paramilitary forces from Kosovo, with a clear threat that airstrikes would resume if Milosevic stalls.

n A cease-fire by ethnic Albanian rebels, who would later be disarmed by the international force.

- The return of refugees and displaced people once Yugoslav forces have pulled out.

- A U.N. interim administration for Kosovo.

- Advance troops of the U.N. force to move in quickly as Yugoslav forces withdraw, before the full peace force arrives.

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