NATO to reduce Kosovo buffer zone

Yugoslavia has welcomed NATO's decision to reduce the buffer zone along the border between Kosovo and Serbia itself, because of continuing attacks there by ethnic Albanian rebels.

The move followed demands by Belgrade to let the Yugoslav army expel the guerrillas, who the authorities say have been using the zone as cover to attack Serbian villages.

A BBC correspondent in Belgrade says the NATO decision is confirmation that the alliance now views ethnic Albanian guerrillas as the biggest threat to stability, not the Yugoslavia security forces.

Correspondents say there are fears that hostilities are already spreading to western Macedonia -- an area with a large Albanian population.

NATO has despatched advisers to Macedonia to try to calm the situation there. The new American secretary of state, Colin Powell, said the re-entry of Yugoslav forces into parts of the zone would be watched closely to ensure it wouldn't lead to worse fighting.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service