Albanians test Nato's resolve with new attacks
Ethnic Albanian rebels launched strong attacks on two fronts, defying Nato attempts to curb the growing crisis around Kosovo's borders.
In the first attack, rebels attacked Macedonian forces in Brest, trapping about 100 officials.
Elsewhere, insurgents using mortars and automatic weapons attacked Yugoslav police in Lucane, Serbia, killing one policeman and wounding three.
The attack in Brest prompted Macedonia to close its border with Kosovo, cutting off the main supply route for the province's two million people.
Explosions could be heard in towns several miles from the fighting as the Yugoslav army used heavy artillery against the insurgents.
The two attacks heightened concern that Nato led peacekeepers could be drawn into a new Balkan conflict in the mountainous region outside Kosovo's southern boundary.
Despite the violence, Nato Secretary-General Lord Robertson insisted that the alliance was capable of containing the crisis.
"There is obviously tension in the area, but Nato is moving very strongly to handle that," Robertson said in Washington. "We intend to see that it doesn't spill over."
Macedonian police spokesman Stevo Pendarovski said a convoy is touring northern Macedonia to assure residents that the government was in control of the area after ethnic Albanian rebels evacuated their stronghold in the village of Tanusevci on the Kosovo border about four miles north of Brest.
Mr Pendarovski said the insurgents were part of the group that evacuated Tanusevci as well as reinforcements from Kosovo. On Thursday, American peacekeepers took positions on the Kosovo side of the border at Tanusevci to try to prevent weapons and fighters from infiltrating into Macedonia.
