Serbs Start Second Bid to Flee West Kosovo City

PRIZREN, Serbia (Reuters) - Yugoslav forces and anxious Serb residents made their second bid to flee the western Kosovo city of Prizren in large convoys on Monday as German and Dutch NATO troops continued to pour into the area. German Leopard II battle ..

PRIZREN, Serbia (Reuters) - Yugoslav forces and anxious Serb residents made their second bid to flee the western Kosovo city of Prizren in large convoys on Monday as German and Dutch NATO troops continued to pour into the area. German Leopard II battle tanks and armoured vehicles took up positions around the mountain city to guard the last-minute exodus against possible revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians, the vast majority in this city of 100,000. British Sky Television reporter David Chater said he was fired upon by snipers in the town centre, where dozens of Serb civilian cars packed with belongings were lined up waiting to move out. He described the situation as anarchy. Yugoslav armoured personnel carriers were still posted at some key intersections to protect Serbs who waited until the end or plan to stay. Prizren, whose population is 10 percent Serb, should under the NATO-imposed withdrawal plan be free of Yugoslav troops, paramilitaries and police by midnight on Tuesday. Yugoslav forces and Serb civilians tried to form a large convoy on Sunday, but the route through town was blocked by joyous ethnic Albanians welcoming the arriving German troops with flowers, food and cheers. The Serbs plundered ethnic Albanian homes on Sunday afternoon and evening, setting some on fire, but the arrival of more German troops late in the day seemed to ease the tension. German army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Dietmar Jeserich said groups of Yugoslav forces and Serbs had formed at different points around the city waiting to leave. Serb civilians were seen leaving in packed cars or hauling old suitcases and overstuffed bags to bus stations for their last-minute departure. Ethnic Albanian residents said pro-independence guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) had slipped into Prizren during the night and were hiding in private houses. Homes near the Yugoslav army base were burning on Monday morning, they said. The joyous welcome quickly soured on Sunday evening when Serb civilians drove up to a German post and fired on the soldiers, who responded with machine gun fire that killed one man instantly. A second man died of his wounds despite receiving first aid from the troops. Yugoslav troops waiting to pass through Prizren on their way out of Kosovo stopped some U.N. officials and journalists at impromptu checkpoints during the afternoon. Some ethnic Albanians called for revenge, suggesting the crowd seize cars from the Serb refugees and make them walk into exile, but others were more tolerant.

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