(19 Jun 1999) Albanian/Nat
As the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) moves into the southern Kosovar city of Pec, the remaining Serb community is now living in a state of fear.
Sunday marks the final phase of Serb military withdrawal from the region, and concerns of reprisals are growing by the day.
There's already been an outbreak of violence, after two Serb men were found shot dead on the outskirts of the city.
Many homes are still burning brightly in Kosovo, but this time it's those abandoned by ethnic Serbs.
A tragic mirror image of similar scenes over the past 78 days, when it was ethnic Albanian homes that were set alight.
K-FOR has pledged to protect the local Serb population.
But it's a task that's growing harder by the day, as tensions escalate between local Serbs, KLA forces and ethnic Albanians returning to Pec.
Just one month ago, Serb forces rampaged through Pec destroying Albanian homes, looting Albanian shops and ethnically cleansing the area.
Already two Serb men are dead, shot and left to die by the side of the road on which they were travelling.
NATO officials are nervously anticipating the return of Albanians expelled from the area fearing further clashes between angry refugees and members of the Serb community that remain in Pec.
The desire for revenge is great. Scores of families turned out for a rally in the schoolyard of the war-devastated farm village of Zlokucan, 30 kilometres west of the city of Pec.
In one show of defiance they brought down a bust of Serb hero Boro Milutinovic and raised the Albanian flag, cheering what many see as marking a new era in their lives.
Running up the stairs of the schoolhouse, rebel soldiers appeared at a window on the top floor, one slowly and solemnly waving a black-eagle Albanian flag, drawing the loudest cheers yet from the crowd.
Tens of thousands of Serbs have left since NATO troops moved in a week ago, as part of a peace deal for the southern Serbian province.
Some of those left in Pec on Saturday gathered with their Mayor an ethnic Serb to call on NATO to secure the city before KLA troops reach the area in great numbers.
SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"We have been asking for days for NATO to provide us with more security. The closer KLA troops get to Pec, the harder it is to convince people to stay. And so we are appealing to NATO to secure the city."
SUPERCAPTION: Jovo Popovic, Mayor of Pec
NATO troops and tanks, meanwhile, are on guard outside the Serbian Orthodox Decani Monastery outside Pec, one of the Serbs holiest sites in Kosovo.
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