It says it could be several weeks before Nato troops can clear the region of mines. Brigadier John Hoskinson of the peacekeeping force said the situation was serious because there were thousands of mines scattered across Kosovo. He said Yugoslav forces had laid extensive minefields along the borders. However a BBC correspondent in Kukes says there is an atmosphere of great excitement in the camps and that as long as the border remains open the flow of returning refugees will become unstoppable. Serb deadline extended Nato says more than 26,000 of the original 41,000 troops have now left Kosovo, taking with them 110 tanks.
Serb forces have four more days to withdraw from the rest of Kosovo.
Nearly 40,000 Serb civilians have left the province, according to Nato, dealing a blow to its hopes for a multi-ethnic province. In another development, a small convoy of Russian troops and vehicles has reached the airport at the regional capital, Pristina, where a stand-off with British troops continues. US Defence Secretary William Cohen is in talks in Helsinki with his Russian counterpart, Igor Sergeyev. And US President Bill Clinton has arrived in Europe for a week-long visit dominated by the future for the Balkans. As international bodies are allowed back into the province, they are unearthing more signs of mass killings, committed by Serb forces in the last three months.