Serbian officials have refused to allow representatives of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army to board a plane to the talks near Paris.

The officials say the KLA representatives do not have proper passports.

International monitors are trying to persuade the Serbs to let the rebels go; the other ethnic Albanian delegates say they will not leave without them.

The BBC's James Robbins: "A poisoned atmosphere"

Under the continued threat of Nato airstrikes against Yugoslav military targets, Belgrade named a 13-strong hardline delegation for the talks led by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, Ratko Markovic.

A spokesman for President Milosevic's ruling party ruled out negotiating with people he called terrorists - a term regularly used by Belgrade to describe supporters of the KLA.

The spokesman, Ivica Dacic, said the Yugoslav delegation would only talk to representatives of Albanian political parties.

French riot police tighten security before the talks

The conference - when it gets going - will be chaired by French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and the UK's Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. Mr Cook has warned that negotiations are likely to be protracted.

Aleksej Zoric, of the BBC's Serbian section, says that neither side is going to the talks to be held in Rambouillet, near Paris, with the idea of really negotiating.

Orla Guerin: After a year of conflict, the Serbs say they will never give in to the KLA

"I believe both sides will simply go to state their case and not be able to reach an agreement. I don't believe anything will really shift until President Milosevic attends the talks," he said, warning that any killing on the ground by either side would be enough for the talks to collapse.

Serb line-up

Correspondents say the composition of the Serb team indicates that Serbia will insist on its stand that ethnic Albanians, although they form 90% of Kosovo population, should have no more rights in the province than other more minor groups.

Mr Markovic will lead the Serb hardliners

Its negotiating side includes Yugoslav's Deputy Premier Nikola Sainovic, Vladan Kutlesic, another senior Yugoslav government official, Vladimir Stambuk, a senior member of the neo-communists allied with President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist party, and Vojislav Zivkovic, the head of the Socialist party's Kosovo branch.

The remaining eight members are all representatives of other Kosovo ethnic communities - Muslims, ethnic Turks, pro-Serb ethnic Albanians and Gypsies.

Whether these are merely tough opening stances or hardened positions, the international negotiators face a tough two weeks trying to make peace after years of animosity, an estimated 2,000 dead, and the conviction of many on the ground that the only solution is to fight it out.

Yugoslav Information Minister Milan Komnenic was reported in an interview on German television to have warned of what he called an "apocalypse" if the peace talks failed.

Nato gets ready

A Nato force of thousands of troops is being prepared for possible deployment.

Robin Cook said the international community had done well to get as far as they had by bringing the two sides together.

He said the negotiating teams representing Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority and the Serbian community would be led by what he called real people with real standing in their communities.

Mr Cook said the two sides would be presented with a detailed paper which, he said, would provide the basis for an agreement.

Bridging the divide

Mr Cook told a news conference: "I'm being quite honest and frank with you, this is a tough task. It's going to be really hard negotiation. There is still quite a considerable gap between both sides which needs to be bridged over a week to ten days."