Back in Yugoslavia, the first group of investigators for the international war crimes tribunal inspected sites of reported atrocities yesterday, said Paul Risley, a tribunal spokesman. Serb civilians fearing ethnic Albanian retaliation continued fleeing Kosovo. But the Yugoslav government persisted in trying to stem the exodus. Finance Minister Borivoj Milacic was to personally lead Serbs back in a convoy that was to leave today, the independent news agency Beta reported. The anger ethnic Albanians harbor toward Serbs was dramatically evident in the devastated village of Zlokucani, as residents used a tractor to smash down the bust of Boro Milutinovic, a Serb partisan whose death fighting alongside ethnic Albanians in World War II was a symbol of ethnic cooperation.
Peacekeepers continue to uncover evidence of revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians.
An elderly man bound to a chair appeared to have died shortly before the Germans arrived, spokesman Lt. Col. Dietmar Jeserich said. Peacekeepers said they suspect the victims were held for allegedly collaborating with Serbs but the head of the self-appointed rebel police force in Prizren said they were suspected of looting Serb residences. NATO troops set up roadblocks yesterday around the city's Serb quarter to keep rebels out. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miolvan Bojic, in a statement carried by the official Yugoslav news agency Tanjug, called on Serb refugees who have fled Kosovo to join organized convoys and return to the province within 48 hours. Bojic was quoted as saying.