The United States and the UK have agreed to consider easing the ban on commercial flights to Yugoslavia, while simultaneously tightening financial sanctions and travel restrictions on President Slobodan Milosevic's regime.

The announcement was made after talks in Washington between UK Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, and his American counterpart, Madeleine Albright, who said they were responding to requests from Yugoslav opposition parties.

Mrs Albright said Washington was ready to consider backing the suspension, "but only if this step is taken along with other measures to strengthen, expand and focus those sanctions which most effectively target the regime and its supporters".

Opposition leaders "have declared their intention to turn Yugoslavia toward the West and to break decisively with the disastrous policies of the Milosevic era," Mrs Albright said.

(Click here to see a map of how Serbia is surviving sanctions)

The US wants Europe to expand the list of President Milosevic's supporters barred from visas - currently about 600 people - and take steps to tighten financial sanctions if they approve the suspension at a foreign ministers' meeting next Monday.

"We want to tighten the financial screw on the regime," Mr Cook said.

"We, like the United States, are willing to look at a suspension of the flight ban for a period of six months in order that the opposition can demonstrate to the Serbian people that we are willing to listen to the voices of democracy," he added.

Both Mr Cook and Mrs Albright congratulated the opposition for agreeing on a code of conduct in January.

But Mrs Albright said it was imperative for the opposition to also present joint candidate lists for local elections and establish a single platform, moves which recently help bring the opposition to power in Croatia.

Flight ban

The suspension of the flight ban will only apply to European carriers and not the Yugoslav flag carrier JAT, a senior US official said.

In October 1996, following the Dayton peace accord which ended the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the UN Security Council lifted trade sanctions imposed against the Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro.

But Western countries imposed a fresh wave of sanctions against Serbia because of the repression of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Last May, the US extended its sanctions to ban oil sales and freeze Belgrade's assets in the United States.

The EU currently has an oil and flight embargo against Yugoslavia as well as an investment and credit ban.

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