During a meeting with the main ethnic Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova, Mr Clinton also said America's current diplomatic efforts were the best way to stop the conflict in Kosovo from escalating.

But after the meeting Mr Rugova said he had called for urgent American intervention in the province. He also stated that the best solution for Kosovo would be independence, which the United States does not support.

Kosovo clashes

Renewed fighting has broken out close to a key cross-roads some 25 kilometres south-west of Pristina, the capital of the Serbian province.

According to Albanian sources, Serbian police have launched attacks on targets in five villages from a factory which they have turned into fortified base.

BBC correspondent John Devitt reported that armoured cars blocked the road at Serb check-points, their guns trained on the hills.

Spent ammunition littered the ground and, in the distance, smoke could be seen rising from houses in villages normally under Albanian control.

Further fighting was also reported between security forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in the town of Decani, near the border with Albania.

Decani lies in the middle of a key river valley close to the Albanian border, which Albanian separatists have to cross to reach areas they control in central Kosovo.

Over the last week the Yugoslav army, backed by paramilitaries and Serbian police, has been carrying out a concerted operation to break this supply line.

The area has been sealed off, but correspondents say that if the fighting intensifies, it could derail peace talks between the Serbian Government and ethnic Albanian politicians.