The first batch of the 50,000-strong K-For force will cross into Kosovo on Saturday and not Friday as expected, diplomatic sources have said.

Nato ambassadors have officially given the order for the K-For commander, General Mike Jackson, to begin deploying his troops.

British and French soldiers are likely to be the first to enter the province, with the aim of securing routes into the province and to establish General Jackson's own headquarters at the airport in Pristina.

The Security Council voted to pass the resolution formally endorsing the Kosovo peace agreement by 14-0. China abstained.

The vote came after Nato Secretary-General Javier Solana ordered the 11-week bombing campaign to be suspended, having verified that Yugoslav troops were beginning to withdraw from Kosovo.

Announcing the halt, Mr Solana said: ''I urge all parties to the conflict to seize this opportunity for peace.

The BBC's Brian Hanrahan: "Nato had rock solid legal support for its moral position"

''The violence must cease immediately. The Yugoslav security forces must withdraw and all armed Kosovo groups must demilitarise. Violence or non-compliance by any party will not be tolerated.''

Milosevic claims triumph

In Belgrade, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic broadcast to the nation for the first time since the air strikes began.

He praised the armed forces and his own policies which, he said, showed that Yugoslavia had the greatest army in the world.

He said the international troops in Kosovo would be under United Nations' command.

Mr Milosevic said that, by agreeing to this, Yugoslavia contributed to re-establishing the UN's authority on the international scene.

US President Bill Clinton welcomed the suspension of the bombing and said Nato was now "stronger and more united than ever".

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said the air campaign had upheld civilisation and prevailed against barbarism.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin said the halt was ''a step in the right direction'', but the bombing campaign needed to be ended permanently.

Russia and China had demanded an end to the air strikes before they would consider the deployment of an international force.

Nato Secretary General Javier Solana: "The violence must cease immediately"

China later said its main demands had been met by the UN resolution, which its ambassador said reaffirmed the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the resolution of international conflict.

There have been no raids on Yugoslav targets since the agreement was signed on Wednesday night.

But Nato has warned Belgrade that strikes will resume if Yugoslav troops do not keep to the withdrawal timetable.

(Click here to see a map showing timetable of Serb withdrawal)

Serb forces have been given 11 days from the signing on Wednesday night to withdraw completely from Kosovo.

Nato troops are poised to go in immediately after the Yugoslav withdrawal, preventing a power vacuum that Yugoslavia says could be exploited by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

Some 18,500 Nato troops - more than one-third of the projected total force - are already on the ground in neighbouring Macedonia.

Russian involvement in K-For is still under discussion, but the US Deputy Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott, said on Thursday that it would not be possible for Russia to have a separate sector in Kosovo.

Acts of vengeance

Belgrade citizen celebrates end to bombing

A senior officer of the KLA has said that Serb units opened fire on his soldiers as they were withdrawing from a village in southern Kosovo.

The spokesman said KLA soldiers returned the fire.

There has been no independent confirmation of this report, but Nato has held extensive contacts with the KLA to try to ensure it does not attack retreating Serb forces.

The alliance has also warned that it will be watching closely to see that a ceasefire remains in effect.

• Picture gallery: Serbian relief
• KLA sticks to its guns
• Military technical agreement: Full text
• Serb civilians may flee Kosovo
• K-For: The task ahead