The UK Foreign Office announced measures on Monday aimed at prohibiting British nationals and companies from providing training or training facilities to terrorists planning actions in the region.

Serb police shelter behind sandbags

The new rules outlaw the provision of such services in the UK, Yugoslavia or elsewhere. Breach of the ban would be punishable by up to 14 years' imprisonment.

The prohibition also follows the arms-to-Africa affair, which provoked inquiries by the government and MPs into Sandline International. These British "military consultants" supplied arms to Sierra Leone in breach of UN sanctions.

An official inquiry, chaired by Sir Thomas Legg, into the affair last year urged the Foreign Office to publicise legislation in the area. A further, separate investigation by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee last week strongly criticised Foreign Office officials.

Services banned

A Foreign Office spokesman emphasised there was nothing to suggest that any UK firm or individuals were involved in training terrorists in Kosovo.

Various pieces of anti-terrorism legislation make terrorist training activities illegal in the UK, and the new measures prohibit British nationals from training people to carry out terrorist acts in Kosovo not just within the UK, but overseas as well.

It was felt prudent to make "absolutely clear" that the provision of such services was prohibited, the spokesman said.

The ban came as peace talks, being held at a French chateau near Paris, entered their final week. The talks are aimed at producing a settlement between the Serbian government of Yugoslavia and ethnic Albanians fighting for independence.

The orders introducing the ban were made by the Privy Council last week, and are designed to ensure that the UK has done everything possible to comply with UN Security Council resolutions.

News of the ban emerged in a Commons written reply to a question from Labour MP Jimmy Hood.