B-52's Set For Kosovo Mission

Defense Secretary William Cohen ordered the deployment of six B-52 bombers, one reconnaissance aircraft and 13 tankers to Britain on Saturday in preparation for possible NATO military intervention in Kosovo.

The planes will be among 260 U.S. aircraft already committed by the United States to support air operations against Serb forces. Most of the force already is in Europe, either stationed at bases there or aboard the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is currently in the Mediterranean Sea, the Pentagon said.

The threat of air strikes is aimed at pressuring Yugoslavia's president, Slobodan Milosevic, to comply with U.N. demands to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo, allow humanitarian aid into the province and open serious talks with ethnic Albanians there who seek greater autonomy.

A Pentagon statement announcing the deployment reiterated the U.S. threat that if Milosevic fails to meet with the U.N. demands, "NATO has plans to use force to gain his compliance by using airstrikes that will damage his ability to conduct military operations."

Officials have said those attacks could be aimed at Serb forces both in Kosovo and elsewhere in Serbia, which makes up the greater part of what is left of Yugoslavia.

NATO Secretary General Javier Solana said Saturday that the group's 16 members had all but erased their remaining differences on airstrikes and that the final authorization of an attack would happen in the next few days unless Milosevic complies fully with demands.

U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke was in Yugoslavia on Saturday in an 11th hour attempt to make Milosevic comply.

Holbrooke said there was "no change" in the Kosovo crisis after talks with ethnic Albanian leaders.

"We are where we were earlier in the day, we're where we were yesterday," Holbrooke told reporters after the talks. "(It's an) extremely serious situation and there is no change there."

On Friday Holbrooke held six hours of talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, and met him again Saturday.

Holbrooke first met three ethnic Albanian negotiators - Fehmi Agani, Iljaz Kurtesi and Edita Tahiri. Britain's Ambassador, Brian Donnelly, accompanied him to Yugoslavia, a move Holbrooke said was intended to show that the European Union was united with Washington in the latest diplomatic efforts.

Holbrooke and Donnelly then held talks with ethnic Albanian political leader Ibrahim Rugova.