(14 Mar 2001) Albanian/Serbo-Croat
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NATO reported that it was pleased with the progress of elite Yugoslav army troops who have been moving into a buffer zone in Southern Serbia, overrun by ethnic Albanian forces on Wednesday .
In columns of trucks and armored personnel carriers with mounted machine-guns, hundreds of members of the 63rd Parachute Brigade fanned out in the southernmost tip of the zone, under terms of a NATO-endorsed plan to cap cross-border violence that threatens to expand into a new Balkan war.
Entering at Presevo, they moved southward toward the villages of Norca, Trnava and Miratovac, all near the Macedonian border.
In Trnava, villagers watched in fear as the Yugoslav troops approached.
"Of course I want peace (but) this is a blockade", one told the Associated Press.
The deployment brings the troops close to rebels who are their sworn enemies and an ethnic Albanian population that deeply resents them.
Though NATO mediated a cease-fire, rebels say they can't guarantee all their fighters will follow it.
Still, NATO hopes the Yugoslav troops will calm the zone and reduce the movement of rebels and weapons into Macedonia, where the insurgents have been clashing with government troops.
Riza Halimi, the political leader of the 60-thousand-member ethnic Albanian community in the Presevo Valley, said the arrival of the Yugoslav troops brought "nervousness" and "upset" to residents.
Ethnic Albanians make up about a quarter of Macedonia's (m) 2 million people.
The guerrillas in Serbia and Macedonia share a demand for more rights for ethnic Albanians, and some advocate joining the regions to an independent state in Kosovo.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"So far we are happy with how things are going"
SUPERCAPTION: Captain Burns, KFOR
SOUNDBITE: (Serb0-Croat)
"There wasn't a problem but there is a lot of fear"
SUPERCAPTION: Vox pop
SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"Of course I want peace. This is a blockade. We are blocked here, and this puts pressure on us."
SUPERCAPTION: Vox pop
SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"This increase in the military presence here, we can not see differently than as an open pressure on the Albanian community. That's why it is dangerous and can lead to further ethnic cleansing in the area, which will then lead to a further escalation of a difficult situation."
SUPERCAPTION: Riza Halimi, leader of ethnic Albanian Community in Presevo
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