In a letter to the Nato Secretary-General, Javier Solana, the Albanian prime minister, Fatos Nano, says that his country's resources to deal with the crisis were limited.

Mr Nano says "it is time for the international community to work in unison and to guarantee with force the defence of the innocent people of Kosovo."

Nato acts Kosovo

Earlier, Nato had decided to speed up moves to help Albania and Macedonia seal their borders with Kosovo, sending military reconnaissance teams to the two countries.

Military commanders are preparing contingency plans to deploy up to 23,000 soldiers to guard Albania's borders but will not report for some weeks.

The specific details of the operation will be presented to Nato Defence Ministers when they meet next week.

Thousands of refugees crossing the borders

Ethnic Albanian refugees arrive in Albania after fleeing the fighting

The United Nations refugee agency says more than 40,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo have fled their homes in an attempt to escape the latest security operation in the Serbian province.

More than 10,000 are reported to have crossed the border into Albania. But United Nations officials believe that figure will double.

Thousands of other refugees are reported to have gone to Montenegro, Yugoslavia's smaller republic.

Heavy weapons use reported

Many people have abandoned their homes

For the past five days, Serbian forces have been targeting several ethnic Albanian villages west of the provincial capital, Pristina.

General Wesley Clark, Nato Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, has said there are growing reports of the use of artillery and heavy weapons by the Serbs.

OCSE's Bill Foxton says he saw artillery firing at villages (27")

Entire villages have been destroyed and there are reports of some summary executions. About 40 ethnic Albanians and two Serbian policemen have been reported killed.