The new government of the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia has approved the planned deployment of a Nato force on its territory to protect international observers in the neighbouring Serbian province of Kosovo.

The Nato force will be commanded by French military officials, with additional support from other European countries.

The BBC defence correspondent says the first units could begin arriving by the end of next week, although it may not be fully operational until the end of the year.

The force will be ready to intervene in Kosovo should support be needed for the 2000 unarmed international observers, deployed by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.