Long lines of cars, trucks and buses loaded with possessions headed north out of the province, with a Serb military escort.

They were jeered by Albanian residents.

Serb families, some of whom have have lived in Prizren for generations, have felt increasingly threatened as Serb forces moved out steadily over the last 24 hours in accordance with the Kosovo peace deal.

Jeremy Bowen: Prizren's Albanians are having the party of their lives

They fear reprisals from returning ethnic Albanian refugees, and do not believe Nato will protect them.

But one route out of Prizren runs through a village controlled by the Kosovo Liberation Army, and KLA fighters have said they cannot guarantee the safety of any Serb passing through.

German Nato peacekeeping troops are now in negotiations with the KLA over the Serbian departure.

Serbs die in Pristina shooting

Clive Myrie in Prizren: Waves continuing to leave all day

There was mounting fear among Serb civilians in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, as news broke of the deaths of two Serb men on the city streets.

They were shot in the early hours of Sunday morning, in the suburb of Vranjevac on the outskirts of Pristina.

The men had reportedly come into Pristina to look for a 22-year-old boy, who was described as their godson.

A Serb soldier runs to catch the bus out of Pristina

The men's families were notified that they had been kidnapped on Sunday afternoon, and Serbian police and K-For troops attempted to find them.

The bodies were found the next day on the streets of Vranjevac.

K-For and the Serbian police have been investigating the shooting.

The Serbian-run Pristina Media Centre reported that "Albanian terrorists" fired on Yugoslav Army soldiers in Vranjevac on Sunday.