UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said a democratic Serbia should take its rightful place in the world, but this could not be so as long as it had a dictator and indicted war criminal as its leader.

"However dark these days may seem to people in Serbia, there is a brighter future there for them if they are prepared to grasp it," said Mr Blair.

His comments were echoed by France and Germany. They insisted there could be no international aid for Serbia as long as he remains in power.

And the chief prosecutor at the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Louise Arbour, said that there was no question of granting President Milosevic immunity now that he has accepted the peace plan.

President Milosevic has not been seen in public, nor made any public comment since the peace agreement was announced on Thursday.

Instead, it has been left to his military chiefs to work out with Nato the detail of implementing the peace deal on Kosovo.

Alliance generals are planning to meet Yugoslav military officials on the Serbian border on Saturday.

The Nato team - led by British General Michael Jackson - will set out a timetable for the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo.